Activist education and expert speakers empowering communities to oppose war and oppression globally

Activist education and expert speakers empowering communities to oppose war and oppression globally

Toolbox: Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

For the Host/Organizer

Organizers should plan to keep their attendees safe. This document can help you do that: Hosting a safe Teach-in

Primers 

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East 1-page Primer |Teach-In Network 

Palestine Primer | Teach-In Network

Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Primer | Middle East Research and Information Project

A Primer on Gaza | Anera

Foreign Policy Primer | Progressive Hub

Presentation slides:

Mix-and-match presentation slides as you see fit. Not every slide or presentation works for every group. Cater the presentation to what is most useful to your group, club, or organization. 

(instructions: Open the slides below and click File -> Make a Copy -> Entire Presentation to customize your own presentations.)

A Brief History of Israel and Palestine

The Gaza Genocide in Maps and Charts

Social media accounts you should follow to stay informed

These accounts are useful for staying in-the-know on what’s actually happening in Israel, Gaza, and the Middle East.

Articles

Opposed to Genocide in Gaza, This Is the Conscience of a Nation Speaking Through Your Kids by Rashid Khalidi | Common Dreams
In a speech following a police raid on Columbia University demonstrators, Rashid Khalidi compares the current student activism to the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, asserting that students are once again the conscience of the nation, risking their futures to stand against injustice. Khalidi criticized the university administration for succumbing to external pressures and ignoring public opinion, which he believes already opposes the war and genocide. He emphasized that the police repression faced by students is only a fraction of what Palestinians have endured under occupation for decades, and he called for continued resistance against these injustices.

“Why we’re not seeing the real Gaza war in the media” by Norman Solomon | Salon
This article highlights how major newspapers disproportionately emphasize Israeli deaths while using more emotional language for Israeli victims than for Palestinians. The piece criticizes the superficial and repetitive nature of coverage, which normalizes the escalating violence in Gaza. The author contends that Israeli actions, including civilian deaths and the destruction of infrastructure, are intentionally underreported, with the U.S. government complicit by providing military support.

Maine’s largest city passes resolution divesting from Israel over Gaza war | Bangor Daily
The resolution, sponsored by the Maine Coalition for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace Maine chapter, aims to withhold all city money and investments from companies that are “complicit in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza”. The resolution includes a divestment list naming 85 entities, including Boeing, Caterpillar, Chevron, General Dynamics, Intel and Volvo.

Anti-Zionism as Decolonisation | Good Shepherd Collective
The article argues that anti-Zionism is a form of decolonization and indigenous liberation, positioning Zionism as a colonial project that erases Palestinian identity and seizes resources. It highlights the growing global movement against Zionism, spurred by the atrocities in Gaza, with new activists searching for anti-Zionist spaces rooted in Palestinian leadership. The article asserts that dismantling Zionist structures is essential for decolonization, stressing that Palestinians are the primary authors of anti-Zionist thought. It critiques Western frameworks and NGOs for sidelining true decolonization and calls for bold, transparent anti-Zionist organizing focused on Palestinian liberation.

Atlanta to Gaza: Free Palestine and Stop Cop Cities | Mondoweiss
From Atlanta to Palestine, our struggles are inextricably intertwined, and the latest round of police violence against protesters proves this. The IOF utilizes their Urban Warfare Training Center, built in 2005, to “train” IOF soldiers in violent occupation and counter-insurgency, brutally suppressing Palestinians and Palestinian resistance daily. This includes environments designed to replicate the ‘on the ground conditions’ in Gaza, known as “Mini Gaza“, and is the dangerous inspiration for the Cop Cities being built across the U.S.

How the U.S. and Israel exchange tactics in violence and control| Al Jazeera
Two decades of Israeli-US police cooperation includes training in racial profiling and violent suppression of protests. Since just months after the 9/11 terror attacks, agents from the FBI, CIA, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – have been schooled at these meetings in both Israel and the U.S., sponsored by far-right Israeli lobby organisations.

Rashid Khalidi: Violent Settler Colonialism Caused This War | Jacobin
Rashid Khalidi is a leading historian of the Middle East. In an interview, he explains how the current war in Palestine is the product of decades of violent settler colonialism designed to drive the Palestinians from their land.

Access to expert speakers on Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East for your teach-in

See our full list of Expert Speakers here. Email the Teach-In Network contact who reached out to you after registering to schedule a guest speaker for your teach-in.

Muhannad Ayyash

Muhannad Ayyash

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Professor of Sociology, Mount Royal University; Policy Analyst, Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network

Huwaida Arraf

Huwaida Arraf

Nonviolent activism; Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Human/Civil Rights Attorney; Co-Founder, International Solidarity Movement; Organizer, Freedom Flotilla

Nora Barrows-Friedman

Nora Barrows-Friedman

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Staff Writer and Associate Editor, The Electronic Intifada; Author, "In Our Power: Students Organize for Justice in Palestine"

Mahmood Mamdani

Mahmood Mamdani

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Herbert Lehman Professor of Government, Columbia University

Narges Bajoghli

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Assistant Professor, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

Omer Bartov

Omer Bartov

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Samuel Pisar Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Brown University

Ramzy Baroud

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Editor, Palestine Chronicle; Senior Research Fellow, Center for Islam in Global Affairs; Author of six books on Palestine

Hatem Bazian

Hatem Bazian

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Lecturer, Near Eastern and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, University of California Berkeley

Estee Chandler, Jewish Voices for Peace founder

Estee Chandler

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Founder, Jewish Voice for Peace - Los Angeles; Board Chair, JVP Action; Host/Producer, Middle East in Focus on KPFK

Zachary Foster

Zachary Foster

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Historian of Palestine (Ph.D. Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University); Founder, Palestine Nexus; Senior Law Fellow at the Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights.

Ilan Pappé

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Professor of History, Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Exeter; Chair, The Nakba Memorial Foundation; Author, "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine"

Josh Ruebner

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Policy Director, Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project; Author, "Israel: Democracy or Apartheid State?"

Lila Sharif

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East; Nonviolent Activism

Assistant Professor, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

norman solomon

Norman Solomon

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East; Nonviolent Activism

National director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. Author of over a dozen books including 2023’s War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, with a new afterword about the war on Gaza.

Sandy Tolan

Sandy Tolan

Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East

Professor of Journalism, University of Southern California; Author, "The Lemon Tree" and " Children of the Stone"

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