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.)
Videos
(2:00) Columbia professor Rashid Khalidi says student protesters are ‘on the right side of history’ | Middle East Eye
(8:50) How Israel Uses Sex To Sell Zionism | uncivilized
(9:48) US media coverage of the 1982 war in Lebanon looks a lot different than today’s media coverage | Media Education Foundation
(10:00) Israel’s Reel Extremism – An ‘extraordinary’ film on Israel examining viral social media posts from Gaza – including exclusive interviews with the Israeli soldiers behind them. | Zeteo
(18:06) “Violence Is Bred by Occupation:” Historian Rashid Khalidi on Israel-Gaza | Amanpour and Company
(25:00) Starving Gaza: How Israel’s man-made famine is killing Palestinians | Fault Lines Documentary
(26:55) “This Is a Colonial War”: Historian Rashid Khalidi on Israel, Gaza & the Future of Palestine | Democracy Now!
(46:50) Norman Solomon on CSPAN: Lebanon, Gaza, and Stopping Weapons to “Apartheid State” Israel | Washington Journal
(1:13:25) The Israel & Palestine Conflict Explained w/ Rashid Khalidi | tomdnyc
Dr. Zachary Foster Teach-In series:
- (40:21) Palestine Teach in Series: Zionism 101 | Dr. Zachary Foster
- (56:32) Palestine Teach in Series: Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories | Dr. Zachary Foster
- (1:20:16) Palestine Teach in Series: West Bank and Jerusalem | Dr. Zachary Foster
- (1:16:43) Palestine Teach In Series: Palestine 101 | Dr. Zachary Foster
- (1:08:45) Palestine Teach In Series: Gaza | Dr. Zachary Foster
Guides, Charts, Maps, Infographics, and other Resources
Guide: Connecting the War in Gaza and the Potential for Nuclear War | Defuse Nuclear War
Guide: Sanctions: The Good, The Bad, and the Criminal | World BEYOND War
Guide: Sanctions on Iraq Fact Sheet | World BEYOND War
Guide: Guide for Jewish Anti-Zionist Allyship | Good Shepherd Collective
Infographics: United Nations Gaza crisis infographics
Map: Al Jazeera Live tracker: Israel-Gaza war in maps and charts
Map: Gaza Strip Damage Assessment | Good Shepherd Collective
Map: Gaza Strip Road Damage Assessment | Good Shepherd Collective
Map: Military Empires: A Visual Guide to Foreign Bases | World BEYOND War
Stats: Palestinian Child Prisoner Statistics | Good Shepherd Collective
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.
- Ahmed Hijazee| Twitter
- Al Jazeera English | Twitter
- Bassem Youssef | Twitter
- Bisan | Tik Tok
- Dima Khatib | Twitter
- Drop Site News | Twitter
- Huwaida Arraf | Twitter
- Jewish Voice for Peace| Instagram | Twitter
- Mariam Barghouti| Twitter
- Mohamed El Kurd | Twitter
- Muhammad Shehada| Twitter
- Muna El Kurd | Twitter
- National SJP | Instagram | Twitter
- Noura Erakat | Twitter
- Nora Barrows-Friedman | Twitter
- Omar Baddar | Twitter
- Palestine action | Instagram | Twitter
- Palestine feminist collective | Instagram | Twitter
- Palestine legal | Instagram | Twitter
- Palestinian youth movement | Instagram | Twitter
- Ramzy Baroud | Twitter
- Trita Parsi | Twitter
- Writers against the war on Gaza | Instagram | Twitter
- Zachary Foster | Twitter
- Zeteo | Twitter
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.
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.