Study & Action for Palestine 2025:

Fighting fascism at home & abroad

An Online Course & Learning Community held and hosted by Comrades Education

Wanna jump to straight to registration? You can do that here!

CO-SPONSORS: US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Jewish Voice for Peace, Adalah Justice Project, Highlander Center, SURJ, Catalyst Project & Rabbis for Ceasefire

FACILITATORS: Eleanor Hancock and Chris Crass

WITH GUEST TEACHERS: Noura Erakat, Huwaida Arraf, Ahmad Abuznaid, Rabbi Alissa Wise, Sumaya Awad, Rama Ali Kased, Rochelle Watson, Brandon Mancilla, Andrew Kadi and Jemma Pasch

“In order to resist fascism, we have to fight it on two fronts of U.S. state violence: at home and abroad.” 

- Noura Erakat (The Boomerang Comes Back)

“Far from being siloed, the Palestine solidarity movement is actually on the frontlines of the fight against the far-Right. None of us will be free until Palestinians are free.” 

- Jewish Voice for Peace (The Wire)

Study & Action for Palestine (Spring 2025) is an online course and a learning community for anyone who is committed to a Free Palestine and the well-being of all people, everywhere.

We are all connected, 

and the fight for Palestine plays a pivotal role in our movements.

The same forces attacking our communities at home 

are arming the Israeli regime and wreaking havoc around the world.

How do we build a movement strong enough to confront fascism everywhere we find it, and durable enough to win?

Study & Action for Palestine provides an opportunity to explore these questions with others in a program that consists of extensive study materials, six live sessions (recorded and available to anyone who registers) and an ongoing focus on action - both what participants are doing or can be doing right now, as well as how we can deepen our engagement in specific, strategic struggles and for long haul, systemic change.

We are honored to be joined by an amazing roster of guest teachers, and we encourage participants to join the program with others they know. Designed to be a community of support for study and taking meaningful action, course content includes:

  • Campaigning and organizing skills that can apply to anything you are working on, brought directly to the group from Palestinian, Jewish, Christian & labor organizing for a Free Palestine right now!

  • Camaraderie and support for your involvement in solidarity struggle whether you are new to activism or a seasoned community leader

  • A material analysis of U.S. imperialism, settler colonialism, and the struggle for a free Palestine that strengthens all of the work that you do

  • Sustainable ways to contribute to the solidarity movement for Palestine and the broader struggle for collective liberation (at home & abroad) for the long haul

Homework materials and in-session discussions will cover themes that are essential to the Palestine solidarity struggle - such as the relationship between U.S. imperialism and the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and a commitment to fighting against antisemitism that rejects the weaponization of Jewish trauma - while supporting your leadership in the fight against fascism wherever you are holding the line.

Comrades Education (formerly White Awake & based in the U.S.) is re-offering this course in service of the energy and needs of the moment. Our goal is to help you gather your strength within a community of learning and support, exploring together how all of our liberation is connected. The focus of our sessions will emphasize the power of solidarity, and the importance of finding a political home, particularly in light of the unique challenges that a second Trump administration brings to our movements here in the U.S. 

To learn more about the community guidelines and expectations for the course, see the Course Structure, Agreements & Ground Rules document for the program.

Course Details

Six live sessions:

March 16, March 30

April 6, April 20, April 27

and May 4

4:30-6:30pm ET • 1-2:30pm PT

Live attendance is not mandatory.

Sessions will be recorded. 

Suggested registration fee: $175-325*

No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

*a portion of proceeds from the course will be donated to direct, on the ground relief efforts in Palestine

Guest Teachers

Noura Erakat

NOURA ERAKAT is a human rights attorney and legal scholar with a distinguished career

Huwaida Arraf

is a Palestinian-American human rights attorney, activist and organizer who co-founding the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated International Solidarity Movement (ISM)

  • She has been involved in legal and grassroots initiatives for Palestinian rights for the last two decades, including co-founding the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and leading the Free Gaza Movement, which organized sea voyages to Gaza to confront and challenge Israel's illegal blockade of the strip. Huwaida was a 2022 House of Representatives candidate for Michigan's 10th Congressional District.

Ahmad Abuznaid

is the executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and USCPR Action.

  • Prior to his leadership with USCPR, Ahmad co-founded the Dream Defenders, serving as its legal & policy director and COO during his time there. He went on to serve as the executive director of the National Network for Arab American Communities from 2017 to 2019. Ahmad is the director of the upcoming documentary film Shukran, which focuses on the connections between Black and Palestinian liberation struggles.

Rabbi Alissa Wise

was a staff leader at Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) from 2011-2021 and is currently the Lead Organizer of Rabbis for Ceasefire.

Sumaya Awad

is a Palestinian writer & organizer, and is the Director of Strategy and Communications with the Adalah Justice Project

  • SUMAYA AWAD is a Palestinian writer and organizer focusing on Palestine, anti-imperialism, Islamophobia, immigration, and labor. She is the Director of Strategy and Communications with the Adalah Justice Project, a Palestinian-led advocacy organization based in the U.S. that builds cross-movement coalitions to achieve collective liberation. Sumaya is also a cofounder of the Against Canary Mission Project and the co-editor of Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, released by Haymarket Books in December, 2020.

Andrew Kadi

is a member of Al-Shabaka: the Palestinian Policy Network and has extensive experience leading campaigns within the BDS Movement.

  • ANDREW KADI is an organizer active for the past 22 years in support of Palestinian rights and working on civil society initiatives among Palestinians. He is a member of Al-Shabaka: the Palestinian Policy Network, spent 9 years with Adalah-NY and 9 years on the Steering Committee of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. Kadi has written for or appeared in The Guardian, USA Today, NBC News, The Forward, TRT, CityLab, the BBC, Electronic Intifada, and Mondoweiss.

Jemma Pasch

is the Director of Grassroots Organizing at Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)

  • JEMMA PASCH is the Director of Grassroots Organizing at Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), where she works to build powerful, locally-rooted organizing at national scale so that anti-zionist Jews in the US can play our strongest possible role in ending the US-Israel alliance that enables and profits off the genocide of Palestinians. Jemma loves thinking about how we build practices & structures that build trust, deepen political alignment, and allow us to move in disciplined, collective formation when it's time to act. 

Rochelle Watson

works as staff with Catalyst Project and is a member of the leadership team of the new formation Christians for a Free Palestine.

  • Rochelle’s solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian liberation began after her friend, Rachel Corrie, was killed by the Israeli military in 2003 protecting a Palestinian home from being demolished. Rochelle co-founded Olympia BDS and has worked as National Organizer for FOSNA and Project Director for the Rachel Corrie Foundation.

Brandon Mancilla

is Region 9A Director for the UAW, and actively pushes for BDS divestment goals within the union.

  • As a member of the UAW executive board, Brandon helped lead the charge within the union for the Ceasefire resolution. During the student encampments of 2024, Brandon supported UAW members of that region (which includes Columbia, NYU, the New School, UConn, and other schools) who were joining and getting arrested at student encampments for Palestine.ning and getting arrested at student encampments for Palestine.

Rama Ali Kased (EdD)

is an Associate Professor in Race and Resistance Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University.

Course facilitators

Eleanor Hancock

built Comrades Education (formerly White Awake) from a small website to an organization of national significance. As founder and director of the organization, Eleanor holds a strong vision for Comrades Education’s work, and has built a supportive team of leadership to guide it. Her leadership grows out of years of experience as an activist, academic, artist, educator, and mother of a multiracial young woman. For more on how Eleanor frames her work, you can listen to this interview on Upstream Podcast.

Chris Crass

is one of the leading voices in the U.S. calling for and supporting white people to work for racial justice. He works with community groups, schools and faith communities to develop leadership and momentum for social justice action. He was a founder of the anti-racist movement building center, the Catalyst Project, and helped launch the national white anti-racist network, Showing Up for Racial Justice. He is the author of Towards Collective Liberation and Towards the “Other America”. 

What past participants say about the course

  • Many of the activist spaces I have been in used shame tactics to bring people into the movement, and it was really meaningful (and healing!) for me to be in a space that instead focused on what we can do starting now and what our individual and collective capabilities are.

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  • I thought the course was an amazing example of reflective racial solidarity that is neither self-aggrandizing nor navel-gazing. Instead, it modeled a practical, pragmatic, and deeply respectful way to engage with the movement for collective liberation in a way that foregrounds the values of integrity and solidarity. This is rare and wonderful and I hope to take more courses in the future.

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  • This was also the only progressive space I've ever been in that explicitly took a stand against antisemitism. So that meant a lot to me. I really felt everyone's commitment to collective liberation regardless of background.

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  • I am Jewish, raised in a Zionist family, but thought I'd left all that behind. Still, I knew there was a lot I didn't know. And BOY, was that true. My intentions were more than fulfilled.

    ❖

A note on antisemitism & Palestinian liberation 

Comrades Education rejects the idea that criticizing Zionism or the Israeli state is inherently antisemitic, and we reject the lie that liberation for Palestinians is synonymous with genocide or oppression of Israeli's or Jews at large.

We purport as a concept and a reality that occupation, ethnic cleansing, genocide and apartheid do not lead to the safety or wellbeing of anyone.

Comrades Education promotes a vision of multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural solidarity, peace, and justice that ensures everyone can lead a well resourced & dignified life.

Course co-sponsors

This course is actively supported by our Advisory Council Members:

Katrina Messenger

Betty Burkes

Bonnie Duran

"Why do you charge for your work?"

We believe the work that we do is significant, and we want to do it well. To this end, we charge a modest fee for our online programs, and solicit donations from participants and supporters, in order to meet our financial needs. This allows Comrades Education staff and instructors to focus their time and energy on the educational work this project promotes, for the benefit of all.

Comrades Education and our instructors support a transition away from capitalism, imperialism and white supremacy; we support reparations to historically targeted groups, communities and Peoples; and we make our work available to all regardless of financial means.

If you have further questions, please contact: info@comrades.education

Banner image credits: Artwork by Yasmine Abulhab / protest photo by Nikolas Gannon on Unsplash / Gaza photo by Naaman Omar via apaimages