UNAC statement on Palestine, January 20, 2023
The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) stands in unconditional solidarity with the heroic resistance of the Palestinian people against the ongoing Nakba: the occupation and ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine by the Israeli regime. We firmly uphold Palestinians’ Right of Return to their national homeland – from the river to the sea – and reaffirm our commitment to ending US aid to Israel, which totals nearly $4 billion per year.
Recent months have seen major escalations by Israel. Heavily armed raids on the West Bank have become a daily occurrence, with at least three Palestinian children killed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the opening few days of 2023. Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power has unleashed a Zionist agenda that dispenses with even the usual platitudes of some eventual negotiated peace or “two-state solution.” Instead Netanyahu brazenly declared that all of historic Palestine is part of Israel, and has committed to expanding Zionist settlements in the West Bank. Netanyahu also appointed the openly racist Itamar Ben-Gvir to be national security minister, who then led settlers to storm the sacred Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, and days later banned flying the Palestinian flag.
We see these actions as acts of desperation in the face of growing Palestinian resistance. The Lions’ Den militant group has sparked an unprecedented mobilization among Palestinian youth that is spreading like wildfire from its origins in the refugee camps of Nablus. IOF incursions face spontaneous and organized resistance wherever they occur. Meanwhile, a growing international consensus acknowledges the apartheid character of the Israeli regime, and the massive displays of support for Palestine during the 2022 FIFA World Cup laid bare the unpopularity of the normalization agreements between some Arab governments and Israel.
There’s agreement from all corners that the situation is unsustainable and will likely boil over in 2023. Some have already called it the Third Intifada. Regardless what happens, we see it as the task of the international solidarity movement to support the Palestinian struggle for national liberation by any and all means: defending the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement from legalistic attacks on the right to boycott; protesting US institutional ties to the occupation; direct action against the Israeli arms industry; and continuing to educate and agitate around the truth of what’s happening in Palestine.
We also join the vast coalition of organizations worldwide in calling for the release of all Palestinian prisoners, including Ahmad Sa’adat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who was abducted 21 years ago this week.
The Zionist project remains a prime example of modern-day colonialism, now largely sponsored by the US as a crucial beachhead for US imperialism in the broader region. Palestinians have a right to resist these attacks on their national homeland by any means necessary, and people in the US have a moral responsibility to support them. UNAC remains committed to joining with and growing the Palestine solidarity movement in 2023.
Free Palestine!
End US aid to Israel!
Defend the right to boycott!
Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners!
*Featured Image: The closed main entrance to the city of Nablus in the West Bank, Oct. 25, 2022 (photo)