“We stand united in our commitment to see the liberation of all oppressed peoples around the world.” These words highlight the statement, released last week, of the 2014 African Heritage Delegation to Palestine/Israel. As a member of the delegation, this commitment carries me forward in my work in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Our statement comes at an important time. On April 1, Palestine officially became a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). As a delegation of black activists, we are calling on our communities to oppose Israel’s oppressive, apartheid policies towards the Palestinian people, and to support the Palestinian struggle for freedom and self-determination, including through the use of tools like the ICC.
Following the recent re-election of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Israel, President Obama and top administration officials explained that the United States will “re-assess” their relationship with Israel as a result of Netanyahu’s pledge on the campaign trail not to allow the creation of a Palestinian state if re-elected. As African American delegates who recently traveled to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, we express our hope that the United States will rescind its Security Council veto that effectively protects Israel from international censure and support Palestinian initiatives to hold Israel accountable at the United Nations and the ICC.
The ICC has the judicial power to prosecute individuals for genocide, international war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Hence, Palestinians hope the move to become a member of the Court will lead to the state of Israel being charged with war crimes committed against Palestinian civilians. The move also highlights the Palestinians long-term goals to be free of Israel’s military occupation and to become an independent and internationally recognized state. The global community should support the Palestinian cause just as was done to end apartheid in South Africa just over 20 years ago. President Barack Obama should not withhold aid from Palestinians due to their decision to join the ICC, and Gambian-born ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda should not waver under pressure, given the undeniable politicization of the conflict, in order to ensure that justice is served under her jurisdiction.
Our delegation statement points out: “Our short time in Palestine/Israel revealed to us the toll the occupation has taken on the human dignity and freedom of the Palestinian people, an occupation that is upheld by various oppressive tactics including the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the network of checkpoints, the segregated legal system, land confiscation, and more. However, we saw and were encouraged by the resolve and yearning for liberation we felt from the Palestinian people we encountered during our delegation. It is this central energy that binds the Palestinian struggle together and that connects our struggle to theirs.”
Much like the historic week-long trip organized by the Dream Defenders in December 2014, Interfaith Peace-Builders’ African Heritage Delegation, comprised of 15 black-identified organizers, activists, teachers, writers, filmmakers, photographers, artists, clergy, academics and journalists, engaged in a two week study-trip to the region. Some of the people we met with were Palestinians living in the West Bank and Israel, including residents of Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, a Jewish settler in Hebron, black Palestinians living in the African Quarter of East Jerusalem, Bedouin women activists, political prisoners as young as 14, and almost 3000 Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers currently detained in Holot Detention Center in the Negev Desert of southern Israel (we had the honor to be the first group of black people to visit the detainees). Our delegation was also tear gassed by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin, where Palestinian residents organize regular protests against the occupation.
During our trip, we were able to exchange ideas with everyone we met, drawing from our personal experiences, as descendants of enslaved Africans, living in the United States. We were also able to gain invaluable insight on how the Israeli occupation and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impacts the everyday lives of many, which was fundamentally rooted in the critical conversations we engaged in with people across ethnic, religious, and political lines.
We issue our statement in order to collectively assert our solidarity with the Palestinian people in their efforts to achieve self-determination, peace, justice, and equality under the law. Our key findings and demands have become increasingly more relevant as events continue to unfold.
The statement of the 2014 African Heritage Delegation concludes: “We call on all persons around the world to offer their unconditional support for the liberation struggle of Palestinians and international solidarity movements.”
Please join us in this call and our joint struggle.
See here for the full 2014 African Heritage Delegation statement: www.ifpb.org/africanheritage/statement.html
For more on the African Heritage Delegation see: www.ifpb.org/africanheritage
To read reports from the ground and view photos from the delegation see: http://ifpbd52.tumblr.com/
Amazing! Thank you all for going and for these excellent and useful statements. Oppressed people everywhere are joining together — the only way forward for the future of humanity.
Thank you for this report and for the links, Kamilah.
I have much respect for Interfaith Peace Builders, and for the efforts of the African Heritage Delegation to Palestine/Israel. (thanks for putting Palestine first, btw!)
I read that you visited a ‘settler’ in Hebron. Who else did you meet that was Israeli? Where did you go in ‘Israel’? Did you find any peace seekers that were Israeli? I am glad that you went to Holot, but am a bit taken aback that yours was the first “group of black people to visit the detainees”!
(Check out the links and reports that Kamilah has provided.)
Outstanding article!! Thank you.