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Title: Statement of solidarity with the people of Palestine Author: Varia Date: 2023-10-17 Category: article Slug: solidarity-with-palestine lang: en tags: genocide, palestine, gaza featured_image: /images/freepalestine.jpeg summary: Statement of solidarity with the people of Palestine
Statement of solidarity with the people of Palestine
Like many people around the world we are witnessing the genocide perpetrated against the Palestinian population with the complicity of the world's most powerful countries. We want to state our unambiguous solidarity with the Palestinian population, and acknowledge the suffering of all the people caught in the siege.
We remain open to requests from people who would like to use our space to organise events or coordinate support.
We have compiled a list of concrete actions that can help Palestinians
1. Inform yourself, verify claims, reflect
It might appear like an obvious one but it remains the best way to counter colonial propaganda. Elements of language currently used against Palestinians have already been used against other brutally oppressed populations. Acquiring knowledge about the history of Palestine, its colonisation, the emergence of Zionism, European colonial history, the Nakba and apartheid policies (this list isn’t exhautive) is one of the best ways to counter colonial narratives being fed to us in Western Europe. We have added a list of resources at the bottom of this page.
2. Speak up
Speak about it around you, share reports from NGOs and amplify the voices of organisations. A genocide is happening right under our eyes and we are way beyond times of “this is too complicated to have the full picture”. While X (formerly known as Twitter) censors Palestinian public figures, YouTube is relaying Israeli war messages and Instagram is shadow banning accounts relaying Palestinian voices, it is important to increase efforts to counter mainstream media. Of course speaking should not be reduced to social media activism; speak with friends, family, colleagues or neighbours about what is happening. Note that the booklet 'Freedom within reach' by the Palestinian Feminist Collective has tips on how to open up discussions [see the bottom of this page].
3. BOYCOTT DIVEST SANCTION
The Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement is aimed to pressure the Israeli colonial state to respect international law. BDS fights for the end of the withdrawal from occupied Arab territories, the removal of the wall in the West Bank, full equality for the Palestinian citizens of Israel and to promote the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.
More information specific to the Netherlands here: https://bdsnederland.nl/ And if you don't read Dutch, here is a list of what brands and goods to boycott: https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/what-to-boycott
4. Occupy public space
Join protests. Organisations such as Palestijnse gemeeenschap communicate regularly about upcoming demonstration dates in the Netherlands.
5. Mobilise your own organisations, media, companies, etc.
Depending on the structure you are part of, you can work towards a collective declaration of support. You can also stop buying/selling Israeli products (see point number 3).
6. Financial support
We put this one last because it seems that nothing can go into Gaza at the moment. The emergency right now is to stop the bombs. Once help can flow again, here is a list of trusted charities:
- Medical Aid for Palestinians https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate
- Palestine Children's Relief Fundation https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/gaza-relief
- Palestine Red Crescent Society https://www.palestinercs.org/en
- Baitulmaal https://baitulmaal.org/
- Middle East Childrens Alliance https://www.mecaforpeace.org/
A selection of resources:
- Institute for Middle East Understanding has a few concise responses to questions one may have about Palestine: https://imeu.org/basic_page/355
- The Palestine Film Institute has compiled a series of films about Gaza https://www.palestinefilminstitute.org/en/unprovoked-narratives
- Decolonise Palestine has put together a very extensive reading list organised by thematics: https://decolonizepalestine.com/reading-list/
- Two years ago, Palestinian Feminist Collective has put together the Freedom Within Reach - Palestine Action Toolkit. It compiles a great amount of information and resources. https://palestinianfeministcollective.org/freedom-within-reach/
- Jewish voices for Peace has a lot of great blog articles on its website https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ . It has also initiated the https://www.notechforapartheid.com/ campaign, between others.
- Haymarket books is releasing three ebooks for free: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/495-free-ebooks-for-a-free-palestine It also has a more complete reading list: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/71-free-palestine-a-reading-list
- Verso has put together a reading list on Palestinian solidarity reading list: https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/news/5078-palestinian-solidarity-reading-list
- Another reading list, courtesy of Skin Deep Mag https://skindeepmag.com/articles/reading-list-for-palestine-jenin-refugee-camp-solidarity-books-poetry
- Many books from the aforementioned lists can be consulted via shadow libraries https://monoskop.org/Shadow_libraries (we recommend 'aaaaarg' and 'memory of the world')
- Archives des luttes des femmes en Algérie has made available a digitised copy of the issue of Présence de femmes dedicated to Palestine from the year 1988. Présence de femmes was a journal founded in early 1984 by the Atelier de réflexion sur les femmes algériennes (ARFA), a group of Algerian academics and militants that formed part of the association Hiwar (“dialogue” in Arabic). You can read more about it here: https://archivefemdz.hypotheses.org/811 and download a copy there: https://archivefemdz.hypotheses.org/archives
- Since the early 2000s Miriyam Aouragh has done enormous work on Palestine in Cyberspace. We recommend checking her book 'Palestine Online - Transnationalism, the Internet and the Construction of Identity' and her many articles on the topic of what she calls "cyber intifada" (many pdfs of her papers can be found via a quick search).
- Academic Shahd Hammouri wrote about economic harm done to the Palestinian population under the occupation: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/92371/1/9789004499126_Sultany_03-Hammouri_SH%20eds.pdf
- Defense or Domination: The Categories of Israel’s Occupation by Shahd Hammouri https://kar.kent.ac.uk/92993/1/Defence%20or%20domination%20the%20categories%20of%20israel%27s%20occupation.pdf
- Gideon Levy (author of The Punishment of Gaza) has written this article for Hareetz: https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-10-09/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israel-cant-imprison-2-million-gazans-without-paying-a-cruel-price/0000018b-1476-d465-abbb-14f6262a0000 (can be read for free by submitting your email)
- Holocaust and genocide scholar Raz Segal has written 'A Textbook Case of Genocide for Jewish Currents' https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide
- We recommend listening to Palestinian radio Radio Alhara https://www.radioalhara.net/ . Here is their recently released 12 hours program on Palestine https://soundcloud.com/radiokarantina/until-liberation-radio-alhara-12-hours-program-on-palestine
- Visualizing Palestine creates data-led visual stories for social justice https://www.visualizingpalestine.org/
- Adalah (The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel) has catalogued Israeli laws that violate the rights of Palestinian citizens in Israel and Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) based on their national belonging. You can check the Discriminatory Laws Database here: https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/7771
- Teach Palestine is a project of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, based in Berkeley, California. The Teach Palestine project website was intended as a resource by and for teachers and teacher educators in the USA focused on bringing Palestine into classrooms and schools. https://teachpalestine.org/who-we-are/
- Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, is a Palestinian Non-Government Organisation, based in Ramallah. It monitors the treatment of Palestinian prisoners arrested in the West Bank by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and provides legal assistance. It publishes yearly violation reports and fact sheets https://www.addameer.org/
- Statement from Amazon and Google workers with the #NoTechForApartheid campaign https://post.lurk.org/@dromografos@electricrequiem.com/111214602153882354
- Dutch Scholars for Palestine https://www.dutchscholarsforpalestine.nl/
Mainstream social media has been of tremendous help in raising awareness about what is happening in Gaza. We also want to emphasise the need for alternative media platforms, not owned by companies using extractivist models, that further enable the oppression of some populations and maintain colonial power dynamics with the "Global South". The recently published 3rd issue of SomeTimes includes a joint statement by various groups involved in Counter Cloud Action, as well as a statement from Amazon and Google workers with the #NoTechForApartheid campaign, detailing more about this matter.
The featured image is of a banner made collectively by students of the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam in 2021. You can read more about its context here