[sudo-discuss] Re: omni statement of solidarity with palestine

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.