May 16, 2018
The world should tremble at the sight of the innocent blood being shed on Palestinian soil.
More than half a century ago, David Ben Gurion, executive head of the World Zionist Organization proclaimed the Declaration of the Establishment of Israel on May 14, 1948. The following day sparks the beginning of Nakbah or the catastrophe for the Palestinian people as 750,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or have been displaced from their villages.
On the eve of the 70th commemoration of Nakbah, the imperialist state of America under the Trump regime moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, stating that Jerusalem is the capital of the Zionist state of Israel. Despite the international condemnation, representatives from 32 countries including the Philippines attended the inauguration. Protest on different cities sparked that day. Palestinians and supporters have been arrested but none would have anticipated the cold blood murders that took place in Gaza.
Gaza is the biggest open-air prison in the entire world with it’s 2 million residents isolated from the rest of Palestine, deprived of their fundamental right to electricity, water, food, and education. Gaza had enough of 70 years of illegal settlers killing generation after generation of Palestinians.
From al-Jalil (Galilee) to Ar’ arat an-Naqab, nationwide strikes organized by the Palestinians were held to oppose Israeli’s announcement to expropriate thousands of acres of lands. Every year since March 30, 1976, Palestinians commemorate the Land Day with protests actions.
Gazans marked the 42nd commemoration of Land Day with protests along the armistice line between Gaza and Israel. Tires were burnt and rocks were thrown against the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) while they were being shot with live bullets and droned with gas bombs and tear gas and yet more and more Palestinians joined the protest of the Great Return March that cultivated yesterday, May 15, 2018.
Trump was right, Israel created another history for killing 65 Palestinians in Gaza and wounding at least 3000. This number will continue to increase as long as the Zionist state of Israel exists. Palestinians have long respected Israel’s desire to live alongside them but Israel brought nothing but injustice and impunity to the Palestinians.
We, in Anakbayan-Europe strongly condemn the mass killings of the Palestinians not just of the recent event but since the establishment of the Zionist state. We recognize Palestinian right to resist. The recent even in Gaza is not an act of terrorism, what kind of terrorist organization will use slingshots and stones? Wooden sticks or tennis rackets and scrap metals to resist the bullets and gas bombs of one of the world’s most advanced military troops, the IDF? What act of terrorism did the 8-month old child commit for her to die from suffocation? The real terrorists are the ones in the White House, the ones in the Knesset and Malacañang. The real terrorists are the puppet regimes they have long installed to oppress the sovereign nations all because of land.
The form of oppression that the Palestinians are facing might be different than the monster we grew familiar with back home, but we recognize the face of the enemy even from afar. It matters not if it wears the face of religious war quoting from the old testament, the enemy of the Palestinians and Filipinos are the same and it is the imperialist state of the US, the Zionist Israel, the Duterte regime and its allies. To end all the oppression the only solution there is for us is a revolution. Be it in the form of freedom fighters or guerrillas in the countryside, it has become the duty of our generation to participate in the struggle for national liberation, for the ruling class will not give our freedom in peace. They will not hesitate to shed more blood and plunder more land. It is therefore not surprising the more and more people especially youth are joining the struggle. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Zionist state of Israel for its decades-long ethnic cleansing against the people of Palestine!
We as Filipinos have known what is it like to have our lands stolen. From Spanish colonization to US imperialism, there is no real independence for the Filipino people. We have come to know the demolition of our indigenous people’s community. The Moros in Mindanao are under siege and their villages being bombarded as well as their schools. Urban poor communities in the cities are being confronted by demolitions disguised as rehabilitation. We know the face of development aggression cause by the foreign powers. Like the Palestinian farmers, ours has no land to till. Like the olive trees of the Palestinian families, our crops are being taken by the landlords.
The Great Return March will start the prairie fire not just for the rest of Palestine but for all the people and nations that have fallen victim to imperialist war. The homeless, the migrants and refugees, the displaced shall return and we shall take back what is rightfully ours! Our enemies will do everything to suppress the uprising for it fears the victory of the people. But together through the leadership of the working class we will march forward to victory!
The young and the old will never forget the names of the martyrs, we will say the names of the martyrs with pride and honor. The war is cruel but the reason behind the war behind it is much more cruel, for it is a war against the rich and the poor. It is a war of capital. But the war that the people of Palestine and Philippines is waging is a just one for it will liberate all the oppressed nations and peoples of the world, it is a people’s war for the people’s peace!
We give the highest honor to the martyrs of Palestine. The youth and student leaders who selflessly stood in the front line with only rocks and slingshots to defend their people and reclaim their land with their lives. You do not die in vain, the day will come when your olive trees will bloom again and the harvest will be yours. Your children and the children of your children will return to your ancestral homes and villages and Jerusalem will be the capital of Palestine again. You will no longer have to live in the cold refugee camps. We will return.
We urge the international community to put pressure on your government. Boycott! Divest! Sanction! Join mass protests and expose the reality that is happening in Palestine.
Palestine! Your freedom is the freedom for us all!
From the river Jordan to the Mediterranean sea, Palestine shall be free!
From Palestine to the Philippines stop the US war machine!
Boycott Israel!
Worldwide intifada until return!