05/15/2021
MABUHAY ANG INTIFADA! LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!
The League of Filipino Students at UC Berkeley condemns the Israeli government’s Zionist settler colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing and stands in resolute solidarity with Palestinians in their fight for liberation and return! Bearing witness to the forced evictions happening in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and the military violence at the Al-Aqsa mosque, we are now, more than ever, faced with the gruesome horrors of Israeli occupation.
We must, however, be reminded that this has been the catastrophic reality of the Palestinian people for much longer. Today, on May 15th, also known as Nakba Day, we commemorate the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forcibly exiled and whose homes were violently stolen and destroyed in 1948. For seventy three years, the Palestinian people have shown immense commitment and resilience in their struggle for liberation and right to land, and we, too, will continue to stand by them until victory.
We also, however, recognize the role that U.S. imperialism has played in directly supporting and aiding Israel’s fascist state. As we demand the passage of the Philippine Human Rights Act, which would end U.S. military aid to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as well as hold the Duterte regime accountable for its numerous human rights abuses, we demand the same for our Palestinian siblings. Every year, the U.S. provides the Israeli government over $3 billion in military aid and has continually sold even more in military equipment and weaponry that we know have killed families and children. The U.S.’ blatant prioritization of profit and disregard for human lives has skirted under the radar for far too long. As U.S. tax-payers and internationalists, it is our duty to not only stand in solidarity with Palestine but to also bring down this imperialist power.
Today, on the seventy-third anniversary of Nakba (catastrophe), we urge all of you to join us in protesting and rallying for the liberation of Palestine. Let us recommit ourselves to organizing and doing all that we can to support and uplift the Palestinian people to the very end. From the river to the sea, we know that, together, Palestine will surely be free. LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY! LONG LIVE PALESTINE!
(See graphic text or Facebook for full statement: fb.com/ucblfs)
JOIN OUR PHILIPPINES IN SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE CONTINGENT IN THE STREETS TODAY:
🇵🇸 WHEN: Saturday, May 15, 2021 @ 1:30 PM
🇵🇸 WHERE: Meet-up at Kidpower Park on Hoff St. between 16th and 17th Street