Author: mirandasullivan

I have learned that in the world of work, organization is everything. Working for IfNotNow, I was able to be successful because of its existing structures and the order those structures helped maintain. For example, my supervisor is the northeast field organizer, so she was already prepared to direct people in different cities to coordinate with the national organizers. This consistent communication between local and national leaders of IfNotNow made my job more organized because I knew how to make sure that what people in IfNotNow Boston did for the campaign would fulfill the national goals. This organization also ties to social justice work because without consistent communication, our goals and strategy could have easily gotten muddled in the fast pace at which political issues, specifically issues around annexation, move. We often had to come up with different contingency plans depending on what was happening in Israel, the West Bank, and the United States. Organized communication is key when dealing with sensitive, intense social justice issues. 

I think the great thing about grassroots organizing is that everyone who gets involved, in whatever capacity, is important. I was the leader of the Boston hive’s (a hive is just another word for chapter) anti-annexation campaign and I think having me as a specific person to be the area’s point person was positively impactful. If people had questions about how to get involved or what sort of resources they could offer, I was the one to whom they would be directed. This made it easier for the campaign to move along locally, and having one main coordinator helped keep the hive in line with the national campaign. 

I wish that when I started I knew how much a social justice campaign can make a difference! Looking back on the summer, what IfNotNow did had a huge impact on how American politicians are thinking about conditioning aid and how Jewish Americans are thinking about annexation. Even though our constituent meetings felt small, seeing headlines about how the elected officials we had talked to were in favor of our demands felt huge. Those moments were validating because I knew that our work was significant. I think if I had known what a gratifying feeling those moments would bring then I probably would’ve stressed less about what kind of impact my work this summer would have.   

I would tell someone who wants to pursue an internship or career in Jewish social justice organizing that it is imperative to put up proper boundaries. I mean this in a few different ways. First, with remote organizing, I would recommend sticking to a strict schedule that allows you to separate your time between work and fun. Part of this includes making a clean space where you can work, and not checking your email after a certain hour of the day. Second, when organizing within small communities, it is important to make sure that, if you’re organizing with people you have personal relationships with, you check in with them and talk about where the professional relationship ends and the friendship begins. This way, we can have better conversations with our communities about important issues such as annexation, while keeping our personal relationships intact when discussing potential emotionally taxing topics. 

Overall, I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work for IfNotNow and see how a social justice organization works. I hope to continue to explore this field, and now I have a new outlook to continue that journey. 

 

As a sociology major and social justice & social policy minor, I am interested in studying why people get involved in social movements, the exigence for such organizing, and what makes organizers effective. This last semester I took Gowri Vijayakumar’s class on the sociology of social movements where I was able to explore these ideas and questions. One thing I learned in that class that feels relevant to my work with IfNotNow is the idea of resource mobilization.

The theory of resource mobilization is best stated by scholar Aldon Morris in his study “Black Southern Student Sit-In Movement: An Analysis of Internal Organizing.” He states, “social movements have no distinct inner logic and are not fundamentally different from institutionalized behavior. Organizations, institutions, pre-existing communication networks, and rational actors are all seen as important resources playing crucial roles in the emergence and outcome of collective action” (Morris 1981). In other words, social movements do not hold a fundamental difference in logical structure from other large social factions, so pre-existing structures can be mobilized by activists. He goes on to make the point that because outside people can provide resources (namely time, money, and participants), these resources can benefit the social movement.

Morris’ theory feels significant to me because it acknowledges that social movements do not have to start from the ground up. Rather, there are structures in place that can help the social movement build. Resource mobilization is strategic; it forces activists to ask each other, how can we efficiently move our agenda and utilize what resources we already possess in our favor?

As I enter my seventh week working for IfNotNow, I realize that this theory has informed my thinking around this organizing work. For example, when IfNotNow began in 2014, there were chapters, known as swarms, that started in communities that already had bustling Jewish communities. There were already Jewish people in these places who were interested in doing anti-occupation work, so it made the formation of the movement and subsequent swarms easier. Additionally, Morris’ theory makes me wonder how Jewish organizing groups can foster relationships with Palestinian organizations who also doing anti-occupation work. Primarily, resource mobilization theory prompts me to think about how IfNotNow can use its resources to help center Palestinian struggle and liberation.

Resource mobilization theory also informs the specific work I am doing this summer with IfNotNow Boston. First, knowing that there are people and structures in place already, such as synagogues, Jewish youth movements, and other activist groups, makes the work feel less daunting. When we need people in the movement to help out with phone banking, constituent meetings, or an action, we know there is a pool of people who are willing to commit their time and energy to do whatever task. Having connections to the existing Jewish community of greater Boston, there is a plethora of people who can help provide us with extra support when we may need it. Having a group of people who are in the IfNotNow Boston swarm makes me feel confident that our anti-annexation and anti-occupation work is strategic and meaningful.

This summer I am working for IfNotNow, a movement led by young Jews to stop Jewish-American support for the Israeli government’s occupation of Palestine. There were many things that brought me to this work, but the sense of duty to justice, Jewish and Palestinian people, and the global community helped me realize it is imperative for me, a Jewish woman, to do this work. The phrase, “no one is free while others are oppressed” emulates what is at stake for me and these communities.

Like I said, IfNotNow works to end Jewish American support for the occupation, but my work this summer has centered around the upcoming annexation of the West Bank. This annexation, illegal under international law, codifies the existing conditions that Palestinians live under. Under occupation, or “de facto” annexation, Palestinians have limited access to water and electricity, must go through excessive checkpoints to leave or enter their towns, are subject to land grabs from the Israeli government, and are forcibly removed from their homes which are destroyed for settlements. To address these injustices, IfNotNow works to educate within the Jewish American community about these issues to encourage action against annexation- de facto and permanent.

This summer I am leading IfNotNow Boston’s anti-annexation campaign. Thus far I’ve been responsible for coordinating constituent meetings with elected officials, running call-in campaigns, and organizing Jewish youth groups.

A recent highlight is that I helped facilitate a constituent meeting with Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who actually showed up to our zoom meeting. To fulfill my responsibilities, I’m usually sending emails or talking with my someone from my cohort, made up of people leading electoral and political education work.

We are hoping to influence congress and our local Jewish communities to support conditional aid to Israel, as it has historically been effective in preventing Israel from extending human rights crises. We also hope to bring information about the realities on the ground to the Jewish public because often, people just don’t know what is happening. Through education, we are furthering our mission of ending Jewish-American support for the occupation by creating an active opposition to it. Through advocating for consequences to the Israeli government to Congress and the Senate, we’re looking at furthering our mission through legislative change.

The small steps to justice look like full email inboxes, having one on one conversations with fellow organizers, and lots of zoom calls. But the progress looks like a vibrant Jewish community that stands for freedom and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians. I am excited to continue my work into this summer and as annexation creeps closer and closer. Having begun my first foray into the non-profit world I am determined to keep fighting and learning how to be the best advocate and organizer I can be.

-Miranda Sullivan