Who We Are

Q: What is the Houston Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (HCJPP)?
A: HCJPP is a diverse group of community members organized on democratic principles to promote justice, peace, human rights, liberation and self-determination of the Palestinian people through a range of inter-group initiatives focusing on communication, outreach, education and activism in the greater Houston area.

We encourage a policy of supporting justice and human rights — ending direct aid to Israel and pressing for Israel to abide by international law and end its illegal occupation of Palestine. HCJPP represents Houstonians from all ethnic backgrounds, political parties and religions who have come together to work for justice and peace in Palestine.

Q: Why does Houston need a coalition to address the issue of justice and peace in Palestine?
A: HCJPP acknowledges that the struggle for Palestine is a joint responsibility of the international community and recognizes the need to contest the unique symbiotic relationship between Western influence, the Zionist movement and its material manifestation - the State of Israel.

The movement for justice and peace in Palestine is inseparable from the struggle to end economic and political disparity, colonialism, foreign occupations and globalized domination. Accordingly, HCJPP considers itself a component in the vision for a just future and a United States that is at peace with itself and the world.

Q: How does HCJPP operate?
A: It is the members of HCJPP that serve as the backbone of our coalition. They contribute their time and effort to ensuring that goals are met and ambitions are constantly on the rise. As an indication of the sentiment of the Houston community, our membership has expanded dramatically since the coalition’s formation.

HCJPP's executive committee consists of elected coordinators who facilitate the efforts of various functional teams: media, logistics, outreach, youth activities, fund-raising and medical relief. Each team meets regularly to execute a collective agenda, and team leaders hold general meetings to assess and coordinate group activities. Other organizations and individuals may be co-opted to strengthen links or facilitate work.

Q: Does HCJPP have a particular political agenda?
A: Our main concern is ending the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a right due to the Palestinian people as well as justice and peace advocates worldwide. We campaign for the right of self-determination for the Palestinian people, immediate Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories and the promotion of Palestinian civil society in the interests of democratic rights and social justice.

Q: What campaign tactics are implemented by HCJPP?
A: HCJPP formulates immediate and long-term grassroots campaigns through its network of faith groups, justice and peace groups, campaign groups, political organizations, and other bodies that span various sectors of society in the United States.
 

Lobbying HCJPP lobbies government and media representatives on issues related to Palestine and the Palestinians. We also provide guidance to members and supporters on how to contact government and media representatives and put out requests to lobby on specific issues. Demonstrations and rallies HCJPP organizes regular demonstrations and rallies calling for justice and peace in Palestine. Our coalition is able to respond quickly to events on the ground in Palestine and organizes "urgent action" demonstrations and protests in strategic locations such as the Israeli Consulate, with attendance ranging from a hundred to a few thousand people. Public meetings HCJPP organizes public meetings on a variety of issues and hosts many important information sessions. Our members regularly give talks to a range of audiences across Houston and have developed an education pack for use with faith groups, schools, political organizations and other groups. Boycotts and divestment campaigns Israel's policies severely restrict the Palestinian economy and civil society. As long as Israel continues to violate international law and agreements, HCJPP believes that campaigning for specific boycotts is one of the most important tactics in the struggle for Palestinian self-determination. We raise awareness in Houston about the occupation in order to highlight the illegal actions of the Israeli state. Cultural events HCJPP organizes events with coalition members which celebrate Palestinian culture and give a face to the Palestinian people. One such initiative is to support the Houston Palestine Film Festival, an annual event which aims to directly expose our local community to the perspective of artists as a first step toward circumventing the many government and media filters that pollute our understanding of Palestine and the wider region.

 
Q: What is Divestment?
A: Divestment is a peaceful political tool developed during the anti-apartheid movement to exert pressure on the apartheid South African government. Activists highlighted the fact that locally based multinational corporations had investments that had a business and/or military relationship with the apartheid regime and helped fund its oppression of the native population. The movement was successful as it significantly contributed to the fall of the apartheid regime.

Q: Why has HCJPP decided to use divestment as a strategy?
A: Recognizing the similarities between Israel and the apartheid South African government, along with the effectiveness divestment held as a tool of the anti-apartheid movement, we decided to employ divestment as a means of resistance. The implementation of a global divestment program coupled with effective corporate boycotts are part of the overall aim of ending all forms of governmental and private economic, political, and military support to the state of Israel.

Q: Does HCJPP support terrorism?
A: HCJPP does not support or endorse terrorism. We employ peaceful, non-violent tactics to bring to an end the violence and organized terror inflicted on the Palestinian people by the Israeli government, as it is being funded by US tax dollars.

Q: Is HCJPP anti-Semitic?
A: No. Many participants of HCJPP events are Jewish and/or Israeli, and proudly identify as such. We strongly encourage Jewish membership, seeing as how Judaism is a religious and cultural identity that cannot and should not be conflated with Zionism. As a modern political ideology that argues for a Jewish state in Palestine, Zionism does not represent the political outlook of all Jews in the world, nor does it represent the predominant viewpoint of all Jews throughout history. In fact, the term anti-Semitic is misleading considering how the Palestinian people trace their ancestral heritage through Semitic lineage.

Q: Why do we believe that Zionism is a racist ideology?
A: Zionism is a political ideology that is built on ethnic discrimination and is dependent on the dispossession of another group. Much in the same way the apartheid regime in South Africa diverted resources based on race and prevented access of the native population to their own country’s resources and free movement, Zionism calls for the appropriation of the Palestinian lands to Jewish immigrants wishing to attain a new residence in Palestine. Palestinians are being denied access to their land and its resources, such as water, and their daily life is being systematically disrupted.