We stand in solidarity with Palestinians in the fight for liberation and in their struggle against settler colonialism. The reality is that the Nakba never ended. Occupation forces violently dispossessed over 750,000 Palestinians of their homes and homeland in 1948, traumatizing generations of families. Most recently, over 200 Palestinians in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah have relentlessly endured violent attempts of forced removal, which can only be categorized as ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, Gazans suffer through deadly, continuous Israeli airstrikes and bombings.
We, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), are sickened by the on-going, escalating genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Zionist forces. We fiercely condemn the United States’ support of this genocide. In the last year, the US provided $3.8 billion dollars in unconditioned, military aid to the apartheid state of Israel, directly resulting in the murder of over 200 Palestinians in Gaza alone over the past week, including 59 children.
Palestinians and Israeli settlers have never been equal. Palestinians cannot be equal while living under the Israeli occupation. Those who live within the Occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza live in under an apartheid regime without freedom of movement, and those in Gaza live in an open air prison, unable to enter or leave the “territory”.
This is an occupation, not a “conflict with two sides.” There’s no “two sides” when every “conflict” results in exponentially more Palestinian lives lost. There’s no “two sides” when one side has no military, and the other side has the most advanced military in the region and is backed by Western imperialist powers. There’s no “two sides” when one side receives $3.8 billion from the American taxpayer every year to terrorize the other side. There’s no “two sides” when one side controls the water and energy supply of the other side. There’s no “two sides” when one bombs media towers, residential buildings and hospitals of the other side. We mourn all loss of life. We reject the “two sides” narrative. It’s time to call the situation as it is: apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing.
The Palestinian youth have not forgotten the Nakba. As students at the University of Virginia’s SJP chapter, we demand an end to the Israeli occupation and the United States’ financial and political support of apartheid. When we resist together, we win together. We firmly support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a form of political pressure on Israel, and call on our community members to actively boycott Israeli apartheid. We affirm our commitment to the revolutionary calls of Palestinians and the Palestinian diaspora for a decolonized, liberated and free Palestine.
In Solidarity,
Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Virginia
Does your organization want to sign this statement? Please fill out this form!
Signed,
Afghan Student Association
Arab Student Organization
Asian Pacific American Leadership Training Institute (APALTI)
Asians Revolutionizing Together at UVA
Asian Student Union
Bengali Student Association
Black Student Alliance
Black Muslims at UVA
Central Americans For Empowerment (CAFÉ)
Environmental Justice Collective at UVA
Ethiopian Eritrean Student Association
FeelGood at UVA
Hindu Student Council
Indian Student Association
La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity Inc.
Lebanese Club
Minority Rights Coalition
Muslim Institute for Leadership and Empowerment (MILE)
Muslim Student Association
Muslims United
National Pan-Hellenic Council
National Society of Black Engineers
Nepali Student Association
Organization of African Students
Pakistani Student Association
Persian Cultural Society (PCS)
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.
Political Latinxs United for Movement & Action in Society (PLUMAS)
She’s the First at UVA
Sigma Omicron Rho (ΣOP)
Sikh Students Association
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
The 13 Society
Turkish Student Organization
undocUVA
UVA Beyond Policing
UVA Survivors
Young Democratic Socialists of America