72+ Years of Resistance: Filipinos Stand with Palestine
Today the world commemorates International al-Quds (Jersuralem Day), the last Friday of the month of Ramadan, on which hundreds of cities around the world condemn and protest the ongoing occupation of Palestine by the Zionist state of Israel. This past week also remembers the Nakba or “Catastrophe” which marks the theft of Palestinian land and the dispossession of the Palestinian people. BAYAN USA stands with Palestinians both in Palestine and in diaspora to commemorate over 72 years of Palestinian resistance for liberation and return. We wholeheartedly affirm our commitment and support for the national liberation of Palestine and right of return of all Palestinians.
The Nakba marks the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people with the establishment of the settler colonial Zionist state of Israel in 1948. Today, over seven million Palestinian refugees and over 13 million Palestinians live in exile and diaspora. As Israel and the United States attempt to entrench and normalize the illegal occupation of Palestine with policies like the Deal of the Century, the spirit of the Palestinian people remain undeterred. As the Nakba continues, the resistance grows even stronger!
As Filipinos, we understand that our liberation is intertwined with that of Palestine. Over 12 million Filipinos live outside the Philippines, forced to migrate out of their home country due to root causes of landlessness, lack of national industries and rampant poverty and unemployment. While Filipinos are exported as cheap labor to other nations, our resource-rich country of the Philippines is plundered for the imperialist interests of countries like the United States and China. In the face of this mass exploitation and oppression, the mass movement and revolution in the Philippines continues to grow, giving voice to the aspirations of the masses.
In step with all oppressed and colonized peoples around the world, we link arms in solidarity with Palestinians, who deserve the right to determine their own fate as a people, the right to return and reclaim their homelands. Together, we fan the flames for liberation and proclaim: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free! Long live international solidarity!”
#FreePalestine #FreeThemAll #WeShallReturn #alQudsDay #Nakba72 #KeyToJustice #DownWithUSImperialism