Our Principles of Unity (from the International Jewish Labor Bund):
- Hereness: From the Yiddish Doikayt, hereness indicates our commitment to struggling where we are, for a future in which Jews and all other peoples have a right to cultural autonomy and non-nationalist self-determination. We, like all peoples, have basic rights to safety, culture, equality, and dignity wherever we find ourselves.
- Jewishness: Representing an infinite and diverse constellation of individual interpretations, Jewishness signifies a commitment to engage with and develop Jewish traditions in the direction of universal emancipation.
- Solidarity: We stand in the struggle for collective liberation alongside all those marginalized and exploited by systems of oppression including, but not limited to, capitalism, colonialism, and ethnonationalism, which pose existential threats to our communities and planet.
How we plan on enacting these principles:
We ground our organizing in the North Carolina Triangle area.
We aim to build relationships of solidarity across marginalized communities in the Triangle area. We see safety and liberation for Jewish people as necessarily bound up with collective liberation for all people.
Goals of our community:
Creating an alternative community to Zionism for Jewish people. Instead of seeing safety for Jewish people in escaping to an ethno-nationalist state, we see safety as created through organizing with other marginalized people where we live. We move beyond insularity, embracing cooperation to create social support networks and strong communities where we are.
Combatting Zionist propaganda…
- We fight the Zionist lies of conflating a people (Jews) with a state (Israel) and, conversely, conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism.
- Against the Zionist reduction of Jewish history to a mythic story of Israel, we study histories of non- and anti-Zionist, diasporic, emancipatory Jewish traditions.
Resisting assimilation by embracing inclusivity and diasporic Jewish cultures, recognizing that the Jewish experience is varied. We affirm the rich diverse tapestry of the Jewish people and make a commitment toward uplifting history and experiences of the Jewish people outside of a solely Eurocentric narrative.
Commitment to building a world of economic and social equity, rooted in the Jewish value of justice, towards collective liberation and shared class consciousness.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that the land on which we gather in the Triangle region of North Carolina is the traditional and ancestral land of the Lumbee, Saponi, Tuscarora, and Occaneechi people who have a deep enduring connection with the land. This serves as a reminder of the historical context on which we now stand and as a testament to our solidarity with Native communities.
Disability Statement
The Triangle Jewish Labor Bund is committed to being accessible and inclusive for all members and visitors and that all feel welcome to fully engage in our work and events. If you require an accommodation for any event you can contact ncjewishlaborbund@gmail.com at least a week prior to the event and we will make every effort to meet requests.