All over the world, activists have been working to make the voice of the Palestinian people heard over the mass media deceit regarding the reality on the ground in Palestine. They have spoken out between the colorful headlines of the âdisengagementâ news that not only forgot the ongoing land grab, ghettoization and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Jerusalem but also forgot the Palestinian people in Gaza. Most Gazans are refugees that were expelled from their homes and history over 50 years ago and instead of being able to go home, they are condemned to continue living in an open air prison. This is the reality that persists even at the end of the media spectacle that has been center stage these days.
In Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday, 20th of August activists staged a demonstration in front of the national Press Center to show solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada and to denounce the cooperation of the Mubarak regime with Israelâs plans. The Egyptian government supports Israel and the Occupation through economic cooperation agreements and its willingness to safeguard Israelâs interests at the Gaza-Egypt crossing in Rafah. Participants at the demonstration made speeches and read a communiqué from the Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign.
In Montreal, Canada, activists continued their mobilization against the Apartheid Wall by exposing the âGaza smokescreenâ created by the Occupation. On Sunday, 21st of August people gathered downtown to raise awareness with flyers, speeches, and a replica of the Apartheid Wall. The picket was staged as an act of solidarity with ongoing Palestinian resistance to the Apartheid Wall and it endorsed the goals of the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign as part of the struggle against Israeli Colonization, Apartheid and Occupation, and for Palestinian rights and self-determination. The activists once again called on the Canadian government to adhere to the July 9, 2004 ICJ ruling to dismantle the Wall.
Many other solidarity groups and activists have issued press releases, statements and opinion articles in an attempt to expose the real meaning of the Occupationâs latest moves in Gaza. There is an urgent need for outspoken support for the ongoing resistance of the Palestinian people.
It is crucial that global solidarity opposes acceptance of the Occupationâs moves as substitutes for the achievement of Palestinian rights. Solidarity groups and individuals must adhere to the principles of liberation and justice and remind their governments of their obligation to uphold international law, including the decision of the ICJ against the Apartheid Wall.
As long as the construction of the Apartheid Wall continues and Israeli Occupation and Apartheid persists, people in solidarity with the Palestinians need to carry on in their path towards the Isolation of Apartheid Israel.