African Americans for Justice in the Middle East & North Africa is an initiative that has been created in order to build solidarity, in a true Pan-African and Black Internationalist tradition, with the peoples and progressive social movements in North Africa and the Middle East that have been engaged in struggles for democracy, justice and national liberation. We come together from different organizations, institutions and movements, and some as simply individuals of conscience, who have concluded that silence in the face of injustice and oppression is unacceptable. We believe that African Americans in the United States of America have a special role in speaking out against enemies of peace, justice and democracy, both foreign and domestic.
So states the preface of a statement by fifty-five black activists and scholars. They say the time has arrived for an African American voice on US policy towards the regions of North Africa and the Middle East. They call themselves a “process rather than an organization,” and one of their action points is:
Promoting a clear demand for justice for the Palestinian people as central to peace and stability in the Middle East. In doing so we join together with non-African Americans, people of different faiths, including but not limited to Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, animists and others, who are committed to justice for the Palestinian people. We believe that there is a special significance to working with progressive Jews in the USA and Israel who share our abhorrence to the system of oppression experienced by the Palestinian people.
Read the full statement | For more information about African Americans for Justice in the Middle East and North Africa, email aajmena@gmail.com.
