Raising awareness, solidarity and breaking the fear barrier around talking about geo-political issues is not easy but recent times have shown us how significant it is to carefully and courageously raise issues affecting us and our colleagues, clients and collaborators; past, present and future.

This resource centres the Palestinian experience under occupation while also highlighting the importance of being able to differentiate anti-zionism from antisemitism. While this not a conversation suitable for all workplaces, this does not mean that this work cannot be engaged with personally, or behind the scenes within leadership, people and DEIB teams. The hope is that this resource can provide a framework or process for starting to think about what that would look like and if it is suitable for your organisation or business. Antisemitism is increasing as is Islamophobia, it’s important that the disruption these harms is centred and that actions are taken to move beyond paralysis, silence or fear.

<aside> 👉 We are consistently presented with opportunities to put our DEIB learnings into practice -> really seeing multi-layered, racialised, historical systemic oppression clearly (in this case, within the context of Western Imperialism and Antisemitism through the ages) all the while centring the most impacted while holding space for everyone, and the complexities this may carry, with care and dignity.

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This space is a growing document with a strategy, information and tools to support you and your team in your leadership, action and solidarity, whether you end up:

• Taking action internally to support your team by offering counselling and flexible working to anyone impacted.

• Creating time for people to contribute to social change and/or community projects such as grief spaces.

• Choosing to make a public solidarity statement or signing an open letter

• Offering educational workshops with a focus on understanding how to disrupt Antisemitism & Islamophobia.

• Acting structurally, by taking a closer look at your DEBI, People and Wellness policies to ensure everyone has access to resources available to them and using the events from the past few months as a template for how your organisation would have ideally responded, or ideally had the capacity to respond.

• Choosing to engage in Boycott, Divest, Sanctions or holding another position relevant to your industry.

• Centering Jewish and Muslim voices within your workplace.

<aside> 👋 Things to remember!

• There is no “one size fits all” approach. The culture of your workplace and individuals within your network need to be factored into how you choose to take action.
• It’s important to maintain awareness of those who are most impacted and with least systemic power within your organisation and ensure you centre their needs alongside being mindful that Islamophobia and Antisemitism are more present in society at this time.
• Consider making space for individuals to apply their unique skills and talents to raise awareness and form part of an internal solidarity and action group.
• At a base level you could aim for an educational outcome within an appropriate timeframe where everyone has access to resources and will emerge from this timeframe confident describing what Antisemitism and Islamophobia is and isn’t along with taking Bystander Intervention Training. What does it mean to do nothing at all within your organisation at this time? Does this align with your values?
• Keep an organisational awareness of emotional burnout and who is doing a lot of emotional labour, visibly or invisibly. Are there any special measures that can be put in place for a set time such as no questions asked working from home or the organisation covering breakfast and lunch for a set period of time?
• Ensure you undertake a risk analysis (guidance below) before starting and seek legal advice if necessary.
• You aren’t expected to have a solution to what is happening geo-politically. By following the steps below you should be able to have a clear idea of what impact you are hoping to make.
• The information gathered here is for general informational purposes. It is not tailored specifically for any organisation or business. It cannot substitute as legal advice. Please keep this in mind before taking any action and tap into the resources you have around you as well as here to ensure you are choosing the best course of action for you and your network.****
• This is a first draft resource. If you have any resources you’d like to suggest for inclusion, or feedback, please feel free to contact me via email: [email protected] </aside>

<aside> ✨ Process

Taking action without raising awareness or doing any kind of analysis can cause harm so it’s best to refer to Dr. Barbara J Love’s “Liberatory Consciousness Model” of moving from:

You can learn more about this process by purchasing the Adaway Group’s amazing training “Whiteness at Work”!

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Step 1: Awareness

Context and Background to Israel-Palestine

Please note, the resources below hold a Zionist-critical perspective and you are encouraged to seek out your own context and background learnings as suitable to your business. There are many lists and resources out there!

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