At Our Community Collective, we believe in the power of solidarity for all peoples in the struggle, for all communities facing injustice. We are not neutral and recognize that silence in the face of genocide is complicity in siding with the oppressors. Today and always, we express our unwavering support for the Palestinian people in their pursuit of liberation from the long-standing Israeli occupation. We stand with them in their efforts for self-determination and justice.
Our values have always aligned with the struggle and liberation of Indigenous people as anti-imperialists. While this is not a direct struggle over the land of Turtle Island, our perspective is consistent in grieving the loss of ALL innocent lives taken over the colonization of land and resources while acknowledging that Israeli forces hold the most power in Gaza–historically and today.
Our solidarity is not conditional and our politics are not separate from our work. Being a worker-owned cooperative, our members were activists and organizers rooted in anticapitalist and anti-imperialist praxis. We elevate those who are underserved and we take pride in working with nonprofits working alongside nonprofits who do the same.
We are not here to be palatable to those invested in the institutions that uphold oppressive systems. We are committed to work and communities that dismantle systems of oppression which erase colonized peoples, sacred lands, and harm us all. Some of our words may strike those insulated by their comfort and privilege as harsh. We can handle being perceived as radical when our ethics are our priority.
It is our belief that we need radical change in a society that turns away from active genocide–especially one funded by our American tax dollars. We join the millions who have been in the streets, online, and in spaces across the world to express solidarity with Palestinians in all occupied territories, with Palestinians facing constant bombardment in Gaza and the West Bank.
We will continue to strengthen our efforts for a Free Palestine and the pursuit of liberation, justice, and freedom for all oppressed people everywhere. And we know that the more we elevate and amplify, the more that both individuals and the masses are learning about other genocides in Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, West Papua and countless others that mainstream news outlets refuse to cover because of their corporate sponsorships.
As a principled digital marketing and creative agency, it is essential that we continue to interrupt the dominant media narratives designed to normalize dehumanizing innocent people–including all casualties with no political power to end the occupation. We must use our voice to state plainly that since it’s 1947 formation, Israel has remained a settler-colonial, apartheid state in all of occupied Palestine. At the hands of Isreali government with support from the Imperial Core, Palestinians have been ethnically cleansed systematically, endured genocide and have been deprived of the most basic of human rights and services simply for existing. Understanding this escalation of violence and tyranny that continues to decimate the 2 mile-long Gaza strip against a captive civilian population of 2.2 million in the world’s largest open air prison on the planet. It is devastating to comprehend that within those conditions the Gazan population consists is 2/3s of whom are Palestinian refugees & 1/2 of whom are children, and an increasingly staggering population of disabled peoples. This genocide has progressively gotten worse over the last two months with Isreali escalation. Disease from lack of food, medicine, clean water, and safe shelter is working faster than Israel's missiles.
The United States financially supports the Israeli occupation of Palestine with our tax dollars and their genocidal efforts have also unsurprisingly aligned with the theft of capitalistic extraction and theft of resources. We urge you to think critically about the United State’s investment in this on-going apartheid and the plight of the Palestinian people while considering the horrific events of the last two months. Understand that our country is funding this genocide, while denying us healthcare and essential social services, and voting against aid from the UN for Palestinian civilians.
Following the money will always help cut through the propaganda that conflates Judiasm with Zionism. Our AntiZionist and Jewish comrades also oppose the Israeli Occupation of Palestine and continue to speak truth to power despite the pressure to stay silent.
We will not be silenced. And we will continue to encourage others to not look away and continue talking about Palestine. Do not normalize apartheid in your mind. Let yourself be moved by the pleas of those being brutalized and understand that not only could this be you, it is happening to you. Despite cultural differences, skin tone, language, and faith–those suffering are not collateral damage. They are human beings and we are all an interconnected community.
We urge you not only to discuss this online, though social media is a great tool for reaching out to people, but to also have these conversations out in the world as well.
We are sharing this Palestine resource list for education and ways to help compiled by Dr Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, Alternative Palestine Resources list from the Justice project, and Stop Gaza Genocide Public toolkit. Please take a moment to look at these resources and share them widely, especially with folks who believe this situation is too complex to comprehend.
Comments