The genocide in Gaza perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces has murdered, injured, and disappeared over 100,000 Palestinians since October 7th, 2023 (WHO). Palestinians, in occupied territory and diaspora, are experiencing the destruction of their homes, primary schools and universities, places of worship, orchards, and lifeways all while the world watches. As the Israeli aggression has intensified, many collectives across the country have taken to the streets to elevate the demands of the Palestinian people: (1) Immediate Permanent Ceasefire, (2), End the Occupation, and (3) End all US aid to ‘Israel’. Though around 60% of U.S. voters support a ceasefire and 70 cities have adopted official ceasefire resolutions, the Biden administration ignores these demands. Biden continues to approve “military aid packages” for ‘Israel’, which may surpass 30 billion taxpayer dollars within 4 months (an annual $3.8 billion, $14.3 billion passed on 11/2/2023, and current speculation in Congress for additional funds for ‘Israel’ and Ukraine). This administration has also completely defunded the UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) and introduced the House Resolution 839, which seeks to condemn and penalize Anti-Zionist political beliefs on college campuses. Because of these conditions, there has been an increase in international solidarity with Palestinian liberation.
Beldaan is a (non-RSO) Olympia-Tacoma community led by Evergreen students from diaspora who are committed to the right of Palestinian return to the Blad (the country). Our mission is to inform the community through political education, cultural resistance, and solidarity with people’s struggles. We condemn the normalization of Zionism, are staunchly anti-Zionist, and support the right of Palestinians to resist by any means necessary. We condemn and reject anti-Palestinian rhetoric, Islamophobia, colonialism, imperialism, antisemitism, classism, ableism, and bigotry. We appreciate everyone who has attended our walkout, film screenings, and protests at the Capitol. Recognizing that Beldaan is a public face of pro-Palestine organizing on campus, we want to remind the community that our organization is not responsible for any autonomous action taken by individuals on this campus regarding information distribution, visible paint, or civil disobedience. Students from Vermont to Los Angeles have been targeted, doxxed, harassed, physically assaulted, and even killed for showing their solidarity with Palestinians and condemning the Zionist status quo of their institutions. Because Evergreen is a public campus, we reject the conflation of individual, non-sponsored actions as representative of the larger pro-Palestine opinion and organizing on campus. We also condemn any attempt to use these actions to aggravate the political repression of Palestinians and Palestinian solidarity in the wider Evergreen community.
Additionally, we would like to address specific images that were distributed on our campus: the pamphlet, “Notes on Resistance”, and flyers found in several campus buildings which included images of Rachel Corrie (an Evergreen student martyred while protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza), and words written in the shape and color of the Palestinian flag.
As stated previously, Beldaan Solidarity Network is not responsible for the recent distribution of “Notes on Resistance,” but we think it is important to address the messaging of the document. In Beldaan, we recognize the right for Palestinians, and all peoples facing state-sanctioned violence in the world, to resist their oppression by any means necessary. To anyone disturbed by these images of Palestinian resistance, we ask you to consider why images of armed Palestinian freedom fighters—who are defending themselves against the U.S-backed, colonial Zionist regime of ‘Israel’—make you feel more uncomfortable than the real weapons carried by Evergreen Police Services on our campus. Beldaan’s goal as an organization, first and foremost, is to create a space for our SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) colleagues to feel safe and empowered—this includes combating all forms of racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian rhetoric, and other dehumanizing propaganda projected onto the SWANA community. There is a well-documented and clear trend of the U.S. Federal Government to label activists and revolutionaries as “terrorists,” as seen in the case of Nelson Mandela who appeared on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorist List until 2008. “Notes on Resistance” also condemns the normalization of Zionism and provides essential information on the “Thawabit,” the fundamental principles and rights of the Palestinian struggle created by the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1977: (1) reject colonialism in all its manifestations, (2) denounce normalization in all its forms, (3) support resistance against the Zionist movement by any means necessary (supported by UNGA 45/130), (4) Free Palestine from occupation by soldiers and settlers, River to Sea with Al Quds (Jerusalem) as her capital, (5) secure right of return for all Palestinians (in accordance with UNGA 194), and (6) preserve Palestinian self-determination and self autonomy.
As for the flyers distributed in and around Daniel J. Evans Hall, we are not responsible for, nor do we support the messaging. Consisting of two separate documents, the flyers utilized concerning language, specifically that, “the normalization of Zionism was the normalization of Jewish supremacy”, and, “bombs are not more ethical than gas chambers.” We recognize that the origins of the 75-year ethnic cleansing and genocide against Palestinians are systems of white supremacy and settler colonialism. The concept of “Jewish supremacy” is a myth that has been rhetorically used as conspiracy by far-right antisemitic hate groups. It is completely inappropriate to perpetuate in any instance, including in critique of the racist politics of Zionism. To conflate the political ideology of Zionism to Judaism and anchor Zionism’s aspirations to a monolithic Jewish people is incorrect and harmful. As well; anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. Further, we denounce the objectification of Jewish suffering during the Holocaust to legitimize the violence being perpetuated by the Israeli Occupation Forces against Palestinians. There is no comparing the ethicality of genocides as there are no ‘ethical’ components to genocide. The fixation on methods to kill or comparisons to other historical atrocities contributes to the minimization of real, human lives.
It is of utmost urgency for people in the United States to respond to the demands of Palestinians and work collectively to pressure for consumer boycotts, institutional divestment, and sanctions against ‘Israel’. We seek to follow the leadership of Palestinians in their fight for liberation by amplifying their demands, perspectives, and words. We strongly believe non-Palestinians must use extreme caution when attempting to write their own informative pieces in support of Palestine, in order to mitigate the spread of misinformation or counterproductive rhetoric.
To stay updated with educational opportunities and events, please follow our main form of communication: @Beldaan on Instagram.
We will free Palestine within our lifetime.
