| Asalamu Alaikum, “Peace be upon you” Wailaukumu salam, “and upon you be peace”.
I am here to acknowledge the ongoing colonisation, ethnic cleansing and violent displacement of Palestinians by the state of Israel.
Many people think the situation in Palestine is so far away that it has little to do with us. They assume that we have enough domestic issues right here at home, that it is someone else’s work to address the rights of Palestinians halfway around the world. However, I know that we cannot talk about justice without addressing the displacement of native people’s wherever they are. Furthermore, we cannot talk about justice without addressing the systemic racism of colonialism.
I recognise the deep trauma and loss of life sustained by systems of oppression in Palestine, the USA, and globally. In my mind, I have faintly painted a picture that all racism and inequality is connected. Now, as I see the dead bodies of innocent children and hear pleas and cries for the suffering to stop, I realise the picture has always been clear but shadowed by the blur of colonialism and white supremacy.
It was clear when protesters who took the streets in the face of police murders seeking to build a nation where black lives mattered were faced with uncalled for violence. It was clear when the NZ police aggressively swooped on non-pakeha households in the early hours of the morning. It was clear when they burst into bedrooms where children were sleeping, and if passports were not shown immediately, men and women in their nightclothes were shoved into waiting police vans.
It was clear when families kneeling during the holy month of Ramadan in the 3rd holiest site in Islam were met with rubber bullets, hand grenades and tear gas. It was clear when kneeling worshipers were kicked, beaten and killed in Al Aqsa mosque, Jerusalem, the true capital of Palestine. It was clear when hundreds were kicked out of their homes in this act of genocide and ethnic cleansing. I hope I have made it evident that if you are willing to stand for justice, why should you stay quiet when hundreds of Palestinians are blatantly killed.
While human rights guarantee the right to life, liberty, and security of people, Palestinians continue to experience random acts of violence by the Israeli military and police, disproportionate violence within the West Bank and Gaza, unprovoked violence in the face of peaceful protest, and misdirected violence by an Israeli state that routinely fails to distinguish between civilian and soldier.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects us against torture and harsh, inhuman, or humiliating treatment or punishment. Palestinians are nevertheless physically and mentally tormented by Israel’s criminal justice system, a word I can only use ironically.
As I speak, the situation for Palestinians on the ground is deteriorating. This is because the Israeli government has shifted further from the right in recent decades, legalising settler colonialism and its associated logics of denial, devastation, displacement, and murder.
For the past 54 years, Israeli authorities have facilitated the transfer of Jewish Israelis to the Palestinian territory and granted them a superior status under the law as compared to Palestinians living in the same region when it comes to civil rights, access to land, and freedom to move, build, and confer residency rights to close relatives. Israel is running modern-day apartheid.
This is why we as New Zealanders should stand with the Palestinian people. New Zealanders must show solidarity. Solidarity requires that we no longer allow politicians or political parties to stay silent on the Palestinian issue.
We must acknowledge the right of an occupied people to defend themselves; if we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, we must put peace first. As Malcolm X said, You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.
Despite the odds, despite the significant measures against justice and peace, despite the history of hatred and imperialism, white supremacy, sexism, and homophobia, we can still prevail despite these power structures that have normalised settler colonialism. We can still win. For you cannot undo wrong, you can only do your best to make things right.
I demand that New Zealand finally recognise Palestinian statehood and fight for the freedom of its civilians. We must fight together to resist state violence because state violence in the United States, state violence in Brazil, state violence in Syria, state violence in Egypt, state violence in South Africa, and state violence in Palestine is the same.
We have a chance to commit to political action, grassroots action, local action, and international action that will provide us with what justice demands. And what justice demands is the freedom of Palestinian civilians and their right to their land. If we uphold the correct values and show our solidarity. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
Asalamu Alaikum , “Peace be upon you” Wailaukumu salam, “and upon you be peace”.
THANK YOU |
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