9 Nov
2023
9 Nov
'23
6:01 p.m.
Hey Sudo Room, what do you think about this statement that was posted to
consensus? The last two paragraphs were taken out by another editor but I
prefer them left in.
Solidarity for Palestinian Liberation
We at Omni Commons demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, an
end to the murder and genocide of Gazans, and all forms of apartheid,
occupation and ethnic or religious supremacy. We demand full human rights
for all people, including the right of return for Palestinians.
Israel allows Jews from anywhere in the world to move there, and become
full citizens. They give free plane rides and ten-day tours to young Jews
age 18-25, full of Zionist propaganda. This trip is called “Birthright
Israel” - it preys on ignorant and vulnerable Jewish youth by recruiting
them for Israel’s settler colonial project. Young people who fall for this
recruitment are then drafted into Israel’s occupation army. Even as war
rages, Birthright is shamelessly continuing with all their Winter trips.
Meanwhile, Palestinians’ freedom of movement has been restricted since the
1948 war, when Zionist terrorism drove hundreds of thousands to flee their
homes. Many of these families, now millions of people, still live in
refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank. The largest is
Gaza, with almost 2 million refugees. Some elders still carry the keys to
houses they left 75 years ago. If Israel was willing to recognize THEIR
birthright, we’d have had peace 30 years ago. Time and again, Israel walked
away from peace talks over this very issue. Instead, many Palestinians'
property was simply given to Jewish immigrants, with no consent or
compensation. This is stolen land.
Jews have always been the minority in Palestine. It was true in 1923, it’s
true in 2023. Israel maintains the illusion of a Jewish “majority” only by
brutal suppression of Palestinian human rights. This is Zionism! All human
rights should be respected, including Jews, but no government built on
minority rule has any right to exist.
We do not welcome Zionism at the Omni Commons. We are critical of anybody
who accepted Birthright trips to apartheid Israel in their youth, including
among our own organizers - but we also recognize that people can learn,
grow and change. Peace and justice require us to forgive people for their
mistakes.
We acknowledge that a stand for Palestine has to be a stand against
imperialism as a whole.
Biden is sending billions of dollars to fund Israeli settler colonial
projects to massacre the Palestinians while millions of us struggle to
survive here on the streets.
We believe in abolition. The abolition of open air prisons, caging
indigenous Palestinians genocide. The abolition of the Zionist state. The
abolition of US imperialism and greed for profit.
Liberation must be fought for. We must fight to make each other free.