Our Statement on Palestine
Wherever there’s injustice, we stand with the marginalized and theoppressed every time. The word, “stand” here is crucial because it’s not justwords - it’s a call to action. It is:
• Listening to and uplifting the voices of those who are oppressed
• Doing a deep dive into learning about the systems and powers at play and theroot causes of that injustice while working in solidarity with the people inthat community towards a solution – regardless of whether or not you’ll see itin this lifetime
• it’s consistently educating yourself on the history no matter how complex
• it’s advocating for folks who CANNOT speak for themselves – who are beingsilenced while also not speaking FOR people who CAN speak for themselves
• taking direction from the leaders and activists in that community
• it’s not staying silent when you know deep down that what’s happening iswrong (John Lewis called it “Good Trouble”)
• continuously holding the oppressors and all of those who perpetuate whitesupremacy accountable (Frederick Douglass said “Agitate, Agitate, Agitate!)
And it’s acknowledging each other’s humanity and mourning with all of those whohave lost loved ones.
Standing with the oppressed given the literal GENOCIDE being committed by theIsraeli state on Palestine looks like this for us:
Learning and sharing resources that thoroughly explain the laws and mandates set in motion that would result in the ethnic cleansing of Indigenous Palestinians by 3 key players: the British government, the United Nations, and Zionist militias. In 1917, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration which gave Zionists the “right” to build a Jewish exclusionary state on Palestinian Indigenous lands. Then, the United Nations in 1947 enacted the Partition Plan, “which divided Palestinian land into areas designated for Jewish settlement and areas for Palestinians, legitimizing the Zionist claim to control over the land. Then, in 1948, Zionist militias, Irgun and Haganah (who would later be the foundation for the Israeli Defense Force, or IDF) massacred Palestinians and forcibly displaced Palestinians from their land. It’s what’s known as the Nakba, or “the Catastrophe” and it is ongoing.
(Source: Palestine: A Socialist Introduction Edited by Sumaya Awad and brian bean)
Challenging and calling out United States press, media professionals and organizations for their calculated language and biased coverage that not supports the destructive and racist idea that Palestinians are terrorists and deserve the collective punishment, ethnic cleansing, genocide, restrictions to basic necessities, and bombardment by the State of Israel and by extension the IOF that has been going on now for decades but also by leaving facts and current updates about Gaza and its people - mostly being reported on now - by independent journalists out of the public eye entirely.
Uplifting the FULL stories of Palestinian people by promoting the Witness Palestine Film Festival and its films as well as holding space for Palestinian voices with panel discussions and podcasts to bring more awareness to their identities, culture and tradition.
Lastly, below are news organizations, journalists, podcasts, content creators, comedians, activists, mobilization organizations, educators, non-profit organizations, filmmakers, and other resources to learn more and get involved in all of the different ways that we can help Free Palestine. Because Palestine WILL BE FREE FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA.
We are aware that there are ongoing genocides in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Tigray, law enforcement training facilities being built all around the country with lots of eyes on Cop City in Atlanta, and land back movements (that includes Hawaii and Puerto Rico, of course!) here on Turtle Island. (All of these movements are connected.) We are keeping eyes on all of this and will continue to build a list of resources as well. We're not free until we're ALL free.
"Get into Good Trouble...Necessary Trouble"
Local
RochesterCommittee to End Apartheid
Free the PeopleROC
ROC Voices forPalestine
Party forLiberation and Socialism (Finger Lakes)
Students forJustice for Palestine (UR)
Jewish Voices forPeace (UR)
Jewish Voices forPeace (RIT)
RochesterDemocratic Socialists of America
Healthcare Workers for Palestine Rochester
National
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Palestinian Youth Movement
Jewish Voices for Peace
Christians for a Free Palestine
Educators, ContentCreators & Storytellers
Hossam Waill
Subhi Taha
NaleyByNature
Salma Shawa
Jenan Matari
Greg Stoker
Palestinian Comedy
Goubtube
Sammy Obeid
FedUp4Palestine
Films/Film Festivals/Filmmakers & Other Professionals
Arab Film Institute
Witness Palestine Rochester
Film Workers for Palestine
TheLaw and The Prophets (directed by Joshua Vis, it's adocumentary film about the occupation of Palestine)
WhereOlive Trees Weep
Watermelon Pictures
Bookstores:
Mutual Aid, Nonprofits, Investment, & Divestment
Operation Olive Branch
Funds for Gaza
Connecting Gaza (Buy e-sim cards in case of Gaza internet blackouts)
Wear the Peace (clothing brand where proceeds go towards donating and aiding refugees)
Adalah Justice Project
BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) Movement