“When we revolt it’s not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.” – Frantz Fanon
The Salt Lake Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America stands in unwavering solidarity with the people of Palestine in their decades long fight for national liberation and urges the people of Utah and the United States to stand up against settler-colonial, Zionist apartheid.
The Palestinian people have been held in apartheid since the establishment of the so-called State of Israel and the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”) that followed. Millions of Palestinians have been removed from their homes, denied their basic human rights, and killed when they stood up against this tyranny upheld by the Israeli occupation. Israel is, per its constitution, an ethnostate, and it is not terrorism or anti-semitism to fight against this injustice.
The Palestinian people have shown us that no matter what walls Israeli forces may try to build to push the indigenous peoples out of their homeland, those walls can and will come down. We see this with the Palestinian people using bulldozers to tear down the fences surrounding Gaza, we see this every time Palestinians and their allies stand up in the face of violence, and we see this every time a smile crosses a Palestinian’s face. The Palestinian people are resilient people, and it is our duty as Socialists to stand with them. Apartheid structures will come down, and we will stand with the Palestinian people in their fight to tear down every structure used to uphold the apartheid they face.
Anti-Zionism is a principled Socialist position, and one that Salt Lake DSA takes seriously. Some of our members have worked with the DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group and have relatives from Palestine themselves. It is also important for us because we are the only DSA chapter in Utah. Utah has its own history of settler colonialism, and much of the tactics and rhetoric modern day Israel uses in their attempt to eliminate the indigenous Palestinians, the European Mormon settlers used against the indigenous Ute, Paiute, Goshute, Shoshone, Dine (Navajo), and Timpanogos peoples. It is an issue personal to us, and to our history as a multi-racial, socialist organization in Utah.
From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!