We sit in a sea of settlements
While the sound of suffering
Sails lost in the listening
As the voices of heartache hail
The power of presence
People as portals
Passports to heaven
Here is a protest in the form of a prayer
– Poet Aja Monet
This powerfully moving video of a flashmob in Nazareth by the recent Dream Defenders delegation to Israel/Palestine is an earth shifter. The demonstration was coordinated by Patrisse Cullors co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter and the video’s Vimeo page explains:
a historic trip to Palestine, freedom fighters from Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, New York, Ferguson, and Atlanta were able to witness firsthand the effects of Israeli apartheid and occupation, and to learn from the people who are actively resisting on the front lines.
In Nazareth, the delegates decided to do a solidarity demonstration as a call for support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign that was called for by Palestinian civil society in 2005.
Having witnessed Israeli apartheid and the occupation “first hand – from the people who are actively resisting on the front lines” journalist Marc Lamont Hill says (2:22 min):
We came here to Palestine to stand in love and revolutionary struggle with our brothers and sisters
We come to a land that has been stolen by greed and destroyed by hate
We come here and we learn laws that have been co-signed in ink but written in the blood of the innocent and we stand next to people who continue to courageously struggle and resist the occupation
People continue to dream and fight for freedom
From Ferguson to Palestine the struggle for freedom continues
As the demonstration continues, my heart is captured.
This action was beautifully filmed and edited by Thorstein Thielow. The protesters echo Sweet Honey in Rock’s famous ode to Ella Baker, movement building and working for justice, Ella’s Song:
We who believe in freedom cannot rest
We who believe in freedom can not rest until it’s won
We who believe in freedom can not rest
We who believe in freedom can not rest until it’s won
We who believe in freedom can not rest
We who believe in freedom can not rest until it’s won
Marwan Barghouti IS Michael Brown!
when they dabke to ella’s song i feel chills thru my whole body, and i have watched this now over and over. the first time tears sprung to my eyes. the poetry, lamont hill’s intro..the chanting, all of it just moves me way beyond expectation.
What a thing of beauty to behold. Thank you Dream Defenders for blessing the land with your presence!
It has been so incredible to watch light bulbs go off in black America about the decades long struggle for the Palestinians and the similarities of this struggle to apartheid in South Africa and to the struggles African Americans have dealt with for several centuries. Drawing parallels..healthy This has been a long time coming and is happening
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good news from Nazareth
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G-d Bless
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