 Free Palestine! Resistance is justified when people are occupied! 10/09/23 The United National
Antiwar Coalition stands firmly behind the people of Palestine as they resist
over 75 years of brutal and illegal occupation by the Israelis. We call on people and organizations
across the United States to take to the streets to support the cause of a free
Palestine and to demand an end to all US military and economic aid to Israel.
While
the mainstream
media will tell people this war began with rockets from Hamas on
October 7,
2023, we know that the Palestinian people have been living in a
constant state
of war since the Israeli state was conceived in 1948 when historic
Palestine was divided to create the current Zionist, Apartheid state
and hundreds of thousands of dispossessed Palestinians were driven off
their lands into internal and external exile. For over seven decades,
the Palestinian people have been subjugated to not only theft and occupation of
their land, but constant violence, arbitrary detention and dehumanization. In
the West Bank, multiple checkpoints restrict their movements and access to
medical resources. Palestinians are denied basic necessities such as clean
water, and the people face violent raids by the Israeli Occupying Force and murderous
Israeli settlers, who constantly encroach on Palestinian land.  Thousands of men,
women, and children are locked inside of Israeli jails for years without
charges or trials, Palestinians face legalized discrimination, and for two
years in a row, the IOF and right-wing Israeli nationalists have attacked
Palestinians worshiping at the Al Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, resulting in
hundreds of Palestinian deaths. The people of Gaza, in
particular, have been subject to some of the worst living conditions and
indiscriminate Israeli bombings. Within the 140 square mile Gaza Strip, the
largest open-air prison in the world, two million people live trapped and
vulnerable to unannounced Israeli strikes.Their human rights to water, food,
electricity and movement are violated. According to the Euro-Med Monitor
report, Pulling the Trigger is the
First Resort,
there was a “dramatic surge” in the number of Palestinians murdered in 2022 and
more than 60% of those killed by the IOF were civilians who were not involved
in any sort of conflict. All of this violence
perpetrated by the Israeli State is only possible with the political,
financial, and military backing of the United States. Every year, the United
States sends $3 billion in military aid to Israel, which is used to fund the
occupation and constant bombardments of Palestinian territories. With that money,
Israel also purchases equipment and technology from US weapons manufacturers.
Israel is the largest recipient of US aid globally. UNAC condemns US wars
for occupation, greed and resources. We recognize that under international law,
Palestinians have the legal right to resist the Israeli occupation. The present
violence between Palestinians and Israelis represents a decades-long struggle
by an oppressed people for liberation. UNAC’s second point of unity
states: “We support the right
of all oppressed peoples, including colonized and formerly colonized countries,
to determine their own road to liberation… We do not have to agree with a
targeted country’s leaders in order to oppose U.S. aggression against that
country. As political activists in the heart of the Empire, we have a
responsibility to oppose U.S. imperialism. In the particular case of Palestine,
we support the right of the Palestinian people to determine their own future
and we oppose any U.S. aid to the colonial apartheid state of Israel.” The Palestinian people
demand and deserve freedom from Israeli apartheid, settler colonialism, and
genocidal tactics. How they go about achieving victory in their struggle for
liberation is for them to determine. UNAC demands an end to
all US military and economic aid to Israel. We call on all members to express
their support for a free Palestine through solidarity actions. Please send us
any pictures and descriptions of actions in your city, so that we may circulate
them. Free Palestine! |
