This is the fifth in a series of statements the FPA is issuing daily on the ongoing Gaza massacre that has entered its fifth day. As of the time of writing this statement, at least 394 Palestinians have been murdered and more than 2,000 have been injured. The number of killed and injured continues to rise as the Zionist Israeli army persists in its savagery and more people are uncovered from under destroyed homes and neighborhoods.
The intense bombardment has been indiscriminate, targeting homes, markets, schools, neighborhoods, places of worship, along with administrative offices and government centers. Lest it is forgotten, these bombs are raining on the roofs and streets of a starved and besieged people, whose only lifeline and access to the world have been mere hand-made tunnels that have now been completely destroyed.
The vehicles and weapons of destruction are US-made and paid for by American tax dollars during a time the people in the US are losing their homes to foreclosures, jobs to lay-offs, and retirements to swindling CEOs. Pulling the trigger is the Zionist Israeli army under an international diplomatic cover, including complicit Arab regimes. The trigger is pulled each time with the full support of the Bush administration while the elected president, Obama, remains suspiciously and immorally quiet.
We are issuing this statement following a powerful National Day of Action that shook the streets of the US in protest and outrage from coast to coast. Demonstrations, marches, sit-ins, and vigils took place yesterday, December 30, heeding a call by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, MAS Freedom, the Free Palestine Alliance, the National Council of Arab Americans, and Al-Awda the Palestine Right of Return Coalition.
We are especially proud of and humbled by the determination of our young generation that has taken the lead in expressing indignation and determination from Washington DC and New York to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Marching in the thousands, shoulder to shoulder with youth from all backgrounds and ethnicities, once again Arab youth politically stamped the pavement of US streets with the determination that justice will inevitably be achieved.
Such was the case on April 20, of 2002 in protest of the Janine massacre, when the US movement witnessed a paradigm-changing event in Washington DC and San Francisco under the leadership of Arab and Muslim organizations in a principled partnership with the unwavering A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. Over 100,000 people defied all expectations and emerged at that time to send a bicoastal loud and clear message that Palestine will be free. Since then, the movement in the US was never the same. The ways of tokenism and marginalization that were the norm of the old guards and the contemporary neo-liberals of the movement was seriously challenged and forever defeated. A new dawn of young hope emerged then and re-emerged yesterday, cemented strong on the history of those who have preceded us, from the youth of the Intifada of the 80s to the modern expression of defiance in art, music, and political organizing across the globe.
The facing off of Zionists in San Francisco and drowning the voice of hate with an ever sustaining and thundering “Free, Free, Palestine”, is symbolic of the struggle to be won. Such determination was taken down the streets of San Francisco by a 10,000-strong march, and was echoed by 5,000 powerful voices in Washington, DC, as they sent a resilient message to the White House of their demand for freedom and dignity away from the wrath of war and destruction. The tremor of hope was also felt in Manhattan on the East, and Wilshire Blvd. on the West, and along scores of town centers in the US as the wave spread from coast to coast, travelling to embrace Jabalia and Beit Hanoun, Rafah and Deir El-Balah, and every town and camp in the besieged Gaza Strip.
As the bombings and destruction continue, the collective challenge to build and strengthen a movement for justice and liberation remains a task for all. There are only two roads to be walked today, the road of servitude chosen by complicit regimes and obedient brown-nosed organizations and self-imposed leaders; and the road of dignity and defiance. The first road is paved with photo ops, millions of dollars from monarchs, invitations to galas and decadence of despotic wealth and dictatorial rule. Such is the road marched by those inflicting our pain, directly or indirectly.
Ours is the second road. While it is undoubtedly paved with pain, suffering, and starvation, it is nonetheless the only road of dignity away from servitude. We walk it in solidarity with each other, with small sums of money scraped by struggling workers to fund a movement, and fueled by a determination and love for freedom that the even the wicked pain of war becomes tolerable. Such is our collective road, with the glorious shores of Gaza visible and evident at its end. These are the shores of dignity awaiting all ships of freedom to dock!
The Free Palestine Alliance, USA
December 31, 2008
