Falastine Collective Circle Statement of Solidarity

A Collective of Indigenous and Persons of Colour (POC) community members across Turtle Island; within the Righting Relations heart-led, decolonizing and radical social change network have drafted this statement on behalf of Righting Relations Canada.

This comes as a response to the atrocities and deep grief that we have witnessed and experienced during this active Palestinian genocide across media, in the news and in our communities. We recognize that a letter condemning genocide is simply not enough, and that meaningful actions that follow in this pivotal time is what really will matter. It is our intent to create virtual space in the coming weeks and invite others into deeper and honest conversations.

As we write this, it has been more than 5 months since Israel began its [intensified] genocidal assault on the Palestinian people in occupied Gaza. In over 160 days, 2 million people have been displaced. Over 40,000 people have been killed – 70% of them women and children. 70,000 have been injured, and the few hospitals left functioning are targets of relentless bombing. Hundreds of journalists have been killed for showing the world the atrocities taking place in Gaza: denial of food, water, power, and medical aid.

For months, Palestinians in Gaza have filmed and shared their deaths, their grief, their fear, and also their precious moments of love, care, and joy. They have done this explicitly to resist a powerful propaganda campaign that has worked for over 75 years to deny or justify the ethnic cleansing and genocide carried out against them by the Israeli state. With each video, they call on the world to see them, hear them, and stand with them, yet too many remain silent, and those who speak up have been targeted and punished.