As we mark the 73rd anniversary of the Nakba, we, the undersigned, join together to reaffirm our commitment to the Palestinian people’s struggle for justice, return, and liberation. We commemorate the loss experienced by Palestinians in 1948 when hundreds of thousands of our people were forced into exile and saw their homes and villages stolen or destroyed by Zionist militias.
To this day, colonization and dispossession remain ongoing processes, where Palestinians continue to endure land theft and encroachments on their basic rights. Despite the multiple decades of Zionist brutality, our resilient people remain committed to resisting Zionist settler-colonialism and to the liberation of Palestine.
We continue to witness the bravery of the Palestinian people as they resist attacks on our neighborhoods and holy sites. We have witnessed the courageous families of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan continue to organize against the theft of their homes by Zionist colonist organizations who march through the streets of Jerusalem chanting “Death to Arabs.” We have further witnessed the occupation’s continued encroachment on our people’s holy sites, including the imposition of restrictions on Muslim worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan as well as the attacks on Christian worshipers as they make their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for Orthodox Easter celebrations. We salute the heroic resistance of our people all over Palestine, from Jerusalem to Umm al-Fahm, who have taken to the streets to protect Palestinian homes, rights, and our cultural and religious sites.
As Palestinians have experienced first-hand for decades, Zionist settler-colonialism is predicated on the destruction of Palestinian political, economic, and social life. It is a project that requires the complete domination of Palestinians through policies of collective punishment and siege. Palestinian workers, activists, students, civil society actors, political leaders, youth and children are subject to policies exploitation, arbitrary imprisonment, and political violence, which are meant to break the spirit of future generations and force them to accept the permanence of Zionist supremacy over every aspect of their lives. The Palestinian prisoners, today numbering nearly 4,500, are now and have always remained on the front lines of resistance and confrontation of Zionism. As we march for return and liberation, we march for the freedom of all imprisoned strugglers for Palestine.
For too long, Western governments have played an active role in the perpetuation of military occupation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. The U.S. government provides more than $3.8 billion annually in direct military aid to the Occupation forces. The US and Canadian governments have skirted their responsibility for Zionist crimes by posing as purported arbiters in a conflict they sponsor. Both governments continue to provide diplomatic cover for Zionist crimes, and actively work to clamp down on proponents of Palestinian rights through government repression, anti-BDS measures, and the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. We demand an end to this complicity. We demand an end to aid to the Israeli occupation forces and an end of the repressive measures against proponents of Palestinian rights. We demand the immediate removal of the US embassy from Jerusalem and reversal of Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Finally, we call on Palestinian communities in the diaspora and supporters of our just cause to join the actions and events hosted by the various organizations delineated below. It is the obligation of Palestinians worldwide to raise our banner and confront Zionism, and it is time for the Palestinian diaspora to reclaim our integral role in the struggle for liberation. We must unequivocally reject the path of Oslo, negotiations, and security coordination with the Zionist occupation forces by the Palestinian Authority. We must renew our commitment to our rights: the right to a free and united Palestine from the river to the sea, the right of return, and the right to live in dignity under a just and lasting peace.
Read the full list of signatories and upcoming North America events at: https://samidoun.net/…/joint-statement-by-palestinians…/
Join us in this call.