The following statement welcomes signatures from Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizations and individuals. Please sign on below:
We, the undersigned Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizations and individuals, express our strongest solidarity with the people of Venezuela. Just like the people of Palestine, only the people of Venezuela have the right to determine their future. We reject all forms of colonial attempts to steal the resources of the Venezuelan people in the same spirit that we reject Zionist settler-colonialism and US imperialism.
We stand with the people of Venezuela against the escalating attacks on their independence and sovereignty by the United States government. The history of the U.S. in Latin America is long and bloody.Support for brutal regimes, military invasions and resource exploitation compose the history of the continent. Today, U.S. imperialism continues its threats against Venezuela, which have never stopped over the years.
These threats include a drive toward an all-out military invasion of Venezuela, home of the world’s largest oil and gold reserves. We know all too well the bitter and brutal legacy of imperialist interventions in the oil-producing countries of the Arab world, a history and an ongoing reality that has been devastating for the Arab homeland as a whole as well as the Palestinian people.
We see many of the same figures who have played such a nefarious role in the destruction of the Arab world, including John Bolton, leading the campaign for war in Venezuela. Elliot Abrams, an individual responsible for promoting and funding war crimes in Central America in the 1980s, who has been named responsible for defining U.S. policy in Venezuela. The blood on the hands of Bolton, Abrams and their ilk is not restricted to these countries – both of them are longtime proponents of Israeli colonialism, ethnic cleansing and apartheid against the Palestinian people.
Of course, this is not simply a matter of individual policymakers, no matter how repugnant. U.S. imperialist interests have plundered Latin America for many years, and seek to do the same in Venezuela. These same interests are engaged in a relentless attack to confiscate the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, particularly Palestinian refugees’ right to return.
We know that the Venezuelan people have long been staunch allies and friends of Palestine. From scholarships for students to advocacy in the halls of the United Nations, the voice of Venezuela has rung out loud and clear, consistently, for nearly two decades with justice and liberation in Palestine. We unequivocally stand in solidarity with the Bolivarian revolution as embodied in Hugo Chavez and carried forward by Nicolas Maduro, expressing the clear stand and articulating the resistance of the Venezuelan people to US imperialism.
Together, we demand:
We encourage all supporters of Palestine to join in the March 16 solidarity protest with Venezuela in Los Angeles, the National March in Washington D.C., and other demonstrations and activities across the U.S and internationally to stand with the Venezuelan people against U.S. imperialist threats.
Al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Al-Awda, PRRC National Coordinating Committee:
Amani Barakat, Chair (Moorpark/Los Angeles)
Anas Amireh, Treasurer (South Florida)
Aida Williams, Fundraising (San Diego)
Khalid Hijazi, Secretary (Charlotte)
Suhair Nafal, Media (Chicago)
Eyad Kishawi, External Affairs (San Francisco)
Souphe Widdi, Representative (New York)
Noura Khouri, BDS Outreach (San Francisco)
Add your or your organization’s signature to this statement! Use the form below to endorse the statement or email us at outreach@al-awda.org.
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