Standing in Solidarity with the Palestinian People
At Grassroots International, we’ve stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people for 30 years. We’ve borne witness to their pain and joy, discussed the daily drudgery and affront to human dignity that is life under occupation, and have answered their urgent calls for assistance time and time again. And today, on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we acknowledge both the terrible pain and the remarkable resilience of those living under occupation, and Palestinians elsewhere whose rights continue to be violated.
November 29 marks the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. It comes just a couple of weeks after the one year anniversary of Israel’s Operation Pillar of Cloud which killed 102 Palestinian civilians, 35 of them children. The crisis for Palestinians is deepening with a steady increase in home demolitions over the past ten years, the ongoing construction of the separation Wall, operations Cast Lead and Pillar of Cloud, and ever increasing restrictions on movement. A few days ago the outgoing Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Filippo Grandi, said that as a result of the illegal Israeli blockade, the Gaza Strip “is quickly becoming uninhabitable.”
While solidarity can be expressed in many ways, we’ve shown solidarity by funding organizations fighting for the right to land, water and food in the occupied Palestinian territories. These are the human rights we promote globally, and the rights most at risk under the Israeli occupation. These resources are being wrested from Palestinian hands daily through demolition orders, stop work orders, outright bans, confiscations, settlement construction, and the virtual annexation of the Jordan Valley. In this context, solidarity for us means ensuring Palestinian have the resources for nonviolent resistance. Farming in the West Bank is resistance. Fishing in the Gaza Strip is resistance. Building homes in East Jerusalem is resistance. Accessing life-giving water is resistance. Not accepting arbitrary freedom of movement restrictions is resistance. And for the many communities where our partners work, just existence is resistance.
Join an action in solidarity with Palestinians today to demand an end to the world’s longest ongoing conflict and affirm the right of all Palestinian people to self-determination, dignity, land, water, and food. There are actions and events taking place around the world. Grassroots International’s partner Stop the Wall has organized a protest of the Prawer Plan which will displace 70,000 Bedouin Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Naqab (Negev.) You can also join in actions to protest Sodastream which is produced in Illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories or participate in these events in Sacramento, London, Dublin, Toronto, Vancouver, or organize your own.