[01/09/25 IG Repost]
We are so proud to FINALLY launch our 2nd zine, HUMANITY IS A CAUSE on Ko-Fi!
See the links in bio or visit https://tinyurl.com/paa-zine-2-please to download.
You can pay what you want including €$£0! But anything you pay will go towards our current fundraising priorities (Doctors Against Genocide & our individual fundraiser of the week). WE MAKE 0 PROFIT OFF OF THESE DONATIONS AND WILL POST RECEIPTS & SUMMARIES IN OUR BI-MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORTS!
Containing interviews with PAA members in Japan, Rachel from The Dissidents in Philly, and The Palestine Music Space in Ramallah, we think this one is our best yet! Also included is art from Palestinian artist Roah Karim @other.roah and woodcuts from Shutopia of NU-CA throughout the zine.
We will post receipts on our Instagram along with our bi-monthly financial transparency reports.
We can’t wait for zine #3! But for now we’ll take a break and focus on promoting this one :).
GIVE GENEROUSLY & PAIR EVERY DONATION WITH 1 REAL WORLD POLITICAL COMMITMENT/ACTION! If you need help brainstorming what that could be, message us and we’ll try to support you to find out what that looks like in your area!
Slide 1: A picture of a crowd protesting in the Great March of Return 2018 against siege/apartheid wall with Palestinian flags flying and flares and the large text HUMANITY IS A CAUSE
Slide 2: A distorted photograph of an iris overlaid with several translucent layers of other textures.
Slide 3: Profile of The Palestine Music Space (PalMS)
The Palestine Music Space caters for musicians from all levels and genres. We encourage them to create original and authentic music works stemming from their cultural heritage and their own reality, with a focus on non-traditional and non-classical music genres including alternative Arabic music, rock, reggae, hip-hop, disco, jazz and more, while remaining open to all styles.
At PalMS, musicians gain access to essential tools and resources that foster creativity and skill development. The space is designed to allow musicians to experiment with their music, collaborate with others, form bands, jam together and develop a music identity, in addition to recording and producing their music in our fully-equipped studio. Through training programs and hands-on experiences in songwriting, music production, and rehearsals, the community offers a platform for exchange, where beginner, emerging and established artists can all grow together and learn from each other. In addition to providing a space for artistic exploration, PalMS also offers mentorship, guidance, and tools to help musicians progress in their careers, be it supporting with song releases, branding, and self-management.
Slide 4: AN INTERVIEW WITH Rachel (THE DISSIDENTS, PHILLY) ON ‘NO GENOCIDE COMPS’ & Palestine solidarity in the local punk scene
AN INTERVIEW WITH Rachel (THE DISSIDENTS, PHILLY) ON ‘NO GENOCIDE COMPS’ & Palestine solidarity in the local punk scene
We’ve seen such a surge in solidarity for Palestine since 2023 & the intensification of the Zionist genocide against Palestinians, and your band has been very vocal & active in not only spreading awareness but putting together benefit shows & comps for Palestine.
What did that surge look like for you in Philly, both in the scene and in terms of the wider movement culture? Was your band already connected to the solidarity movement and you sprang into action, or was this a new horizon for you all whereby you connected with local & international solidarity groups and brought that messaging back to the community?
Here in Philly we’re lucky to have a really strong activist history, including anti-zionist organizing, that is very intertwined with the punk scene. Everyone in the band has a history of activism and most of us have been involved in the anti-zionist/Palestinian solidarity movement. For me personally [Rachel], 2023 is when I decided to suck it up and take full advantage of the undue weight my Jewish identity has in speaking out about Palestine. It was something I was never comfortable doing and was partly a strategic decision, and partly an emotional one from needing to do something about the crushing weight of knowing that the justification for all this evil was supposedly making a safe place for ME. what the fuck! So that is what prompted me to start doing some actions with Jewish anti-zionist groups, and playing the Jewish card BEFORE people called me anti-semitic. And just generally going all-out for Palestinians in any way I could. So weirdly this whole nightmare has made me a lot more connected to my jewishness and (anti-zionist) jewish community.
One way we really did have to reach out and network was figuring out how to get the proceeds from the fundraisers we did to Gazans early on. We connected and continue to connect to some amazing folks who were basically making miracles even with no aid coming into Gaza.
That’s really powerful to hear. As folks have rightly said a lot recently: no matter who we are, our own liberation is tied up with the liberation of Palestine, because there is nowhere that the insidious settler-colonial project has not touched materially or ideologically. As you note, it seems like this is a huge moment of awakening too for anti-Zionist Jews around the world, with an increased interest in historical left-wing anti-Zionism from the Bund to local Arab Jewish opposition to the settler-colonial project, and a flourishing of not only political anti-Zionism but even religiously-rooted anti-Zionist practice, such as with Tzedek Chicago, Queer Yeshiva, & the Anti-Zionist ‘Siddur Tatir Tz’rurah’ project–to name a few.
Slide 5: Someone wearing a kuffiyyeh and holding a microphone. The text:
JAPAN, PUNK, & THE PALESTINIAN ‘ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM’ / 2 INTERVIEWS
What kind of struggles do you think the Palestine solidarity movement faces in Japan? Both of you have talked openly before about the uphill battle you face in Japanese society, and while it is clear that the movement is growing every day, it seems that there are some bigger shifts that need to happen for the Japanese public & punk scene to get on board with the Palestinian cause. How do you think we can get to a more advanced stage of Palestine solidarity in Japan?
Firstly, thanks for inviting me to join “Punks Against Apartheid” group. It’s an honor, and it inspires and empowers me to keep action here in Japan. I live in Aichi, and am organizing solidarity with Palestine Action on the street about twice a week in Nagoya, which is the capital of Aichi. At first, I was joining in protests, but I started to organize myself with comrades who I met at protests…
You told me that the movement is growing every day…but it’s not in Japan IMO! It may be getting powerful, but it is getting less educated people. I don’t want to say that, but [I think] it may be because to [some people] it’s a movement just for a moment. I’m not sure about that, but I feel so sometimes. On the other hand, the connection of solidarity with Palestine action is getting stronger. That is “hope” for me.
Now this may be hard to tell for punks in Japan, but to be honest, punk seems to mean only music or fashion for many Japanese punks. I know you’re seeing many political messages from Japanese punks, but I’m not sure how seriously they think about that. Because some of their messages will be without action. It’ll be empty messages. Many of them tell you about anti-racism, but how about other issues? They don’t care about sexism, transphobia, LGBTQ+ rights, etc.
I have heard discriminatory talk from punks who even say “no racism”. And when I attack them by words, some of the punks protect them, because my action was ‘aggressive’. Wtf! One of the assholes told me that he supports Trump and racism is a necessary evil. Wtf! But some local punks protect assholes even when they had the flyers of MDC Japan tour on their hands that tells you “No KKK No Trump No fucking USA”. You know, many Japanese punks understand nothing. However, there are other punks who have political messages that come with their action. What I can do would be to keep talking to them and not give up hope.
Slide 6: A picture of a crowd protesting in the Great March of Return 2018 against siege/apartheid wall with Palestinian flags flying and flares and the large text الانسان هو قضية