APIRG unequivocally supports and stands with Palestinians in the decades-long resistance to military occupation on their homelands. We demand an end to the egregious attacks on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and the genocide of Palestinians by the apartheid state of Israel.
Israel and its imperialist allies have framed these attacks as being a legitimate and legal response by Israel to the strikes on Israeli settlements and military by Hamas on October 7th. These assaults by militias and Hamas on civilians have been condemned. After repelling these attacks, however, Israel and its allies immediately began an illegal process of collective punishment on the people of Palestine, using it as a pretense to accelerate their ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. This horrific assault contravenes international law and constitutes both war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This is a continuation of the process of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people which has included a blockade on Gaza, controlling the import and distribution of food, power, water, and all the necessities of life to Gazans. This has been described by Israeli authorities as ‘putting Palestinians on a diet.’ This process has also included the dispossession of Palestinian lands and territories, a process that has continued after the Nakba (1948).
At APIRG we maintain anti-oppressive practices and advocate for social justice issues. We exist to provide students and community members with tools and support to be active citizens in our communities. We stand with students, academics, professors, community organizers, and members of the UAlberta community speaking out against the apartheid state of Israel and taking action in support of Palestine.
APIRG joins voices (including Independent Jewish Voices) opposing the genocide of Palestinians in saying defiantly that this is not an issue of religion. Indeed, the many Jews, Christians, Muslims and people of all faith backgrounds who are Palestinian or Israeli have an equal and common human dignity. As an organization dedicated to anti-oppressive practices, we restate our opposition to Anti-Semitisim and Islamophobia in all forms. People around the world of all faiths and ethnic identities are joining together in the cry for justice to end the killing of Palestinians who have been murdered and subject to torturous living conditions by the Israeli state in the thousands.
The imperialist western powers, including the colonial state of so-called Canada, have made us all complicit in this genocide through tax-payer dollars by providing weapons and financial aid to the blockade on Gaza and assault enacted by the IDF (Israel Defence Force). Further, the University of Alberta is expanding our complicity by profiting off the blood of Palestinians through their repeated refusal to adopt the practices of the global BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) movement and by investing in, and sourcing products from the apartheid state.
Further, the University of Alberta Students Union (UASU), supposedly the students’ representative body, has failed to call for a ceasefire or support the many Palestinian and Jewish students calling for peace and decolonization of internationally recognized Palestinian territory, thus establishing their complicity in this genocide.
On our campus which has adopted actions like Land Acknowledgements and the celebration and recognition of Truth and Reconciliation Day, we ask why not offer this same recognition of the impacts of colonialism in Palestine? The history of Palestine is shaped by European settlers arriving on land that is not their own, settling there, stealing homes, and displacing those Indigenous to the land. Sound familiar?
As the University of Alberta proudly shares in their Land Acknowledgement statement:
“To acknowledge the traditional territory is to recognize its longer history, reaching beyond colonization and the establishment of European colonies, as well as its significance for the Indigenous peoples who lived and continue to live upon this territory, and whose practices and spiritualities were tied to the land and continue to develop in relationship to the land and its other inhabitants today.”
Ceasefire now. Stop the genocide. Lift the blockade. Land back. Free Palestine.
Palestine Solidarity Resource List
Kindly be aware that this resource is dynamic, and we’ll continue to enhance it with relevant content. If you have a resource that has been instrumental in your education and advocacy for Palestine, we’d greatly appreciate your input. Send us your suggestions through our submission form!
This resource list includes resources thoughtfully compiled by OPIRG Peterborough.
To Call on the Government
- UAlberta Students’ Union Must Support Palestine
- Petition to the Prime Minister
- Petition to Demand Alberta drop Charges Against Wesam Khaled
- CJPME: Stand with Palestinians in Gaza and Jerusalem
- Write Canadian government: #SaveSheikhjarrah – protect Palestinian families and stop Israeli ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem
To Donate
- Medical Aid for Palestinians
- Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
- Save the Children
- Al-shabaka
- Human Concern International
- Institute for Middle East Understanding
- Addameer
To Continue Your Support
- The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement
- Free Palestine
- Help Palestine People by Signing Petitions and Donating
To Learn More
Free Access Resources
hoopla | streaming audiobooks, music, video & ebooks (hoopladigital.com)
Hoopla is an incredible resource, if you have a library card (one card included) you can access everything here for free, which includes audiobooks and PDFs of some of the titles from our suggested reading list
Verso Books Free Resources and Further Reading
APIRG Book List
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
Orientalism by Edward Said
Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation Edited by Mateo Hoke and Cate Malek
Stone Men: The Palestinians Who Built Israel by Andrew Ross
10 Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappe
Except for Palestine by Marc Lamont Hill
Zines
https://anchorarchive.org/zines/origin-palestine-israel-conflict
Palestine Will Be Free (11/01/2023)
Lihish’tah’weel: The Dystopia principle and the strategic basis for a just peace in Palestine (2007)
WE CAN’T AFFORD TO REMAIN SILENT: AN INTERVIEW WITH AN ISRAELI ANARCHIST REPRINTED FROM 161 CREW
Palestinian Anarchists: Voices from the Front Line
Inexorable Links by Zara from Interviews With Radical Palestinian Women
Kaddish For The Soul of Judaism: Genocide In Palestine
Three Perspectives on Zionism, Jewishness, Class, and Liberation
Jewish Currents Israel-Palestine Explainer
Want a paper copy of a zine? Drop by our office at 9111 HUB Mall Monday – Friday between 10am-3pm to pick one up.
Additional Reading Lists
Decolonize Palestine, managed by Palestinians in Ramallah, provides a wealth of resources on Palestine’s history, myth-busting content, and a comprehensive reading list on their website.
Verso Books, the leading independent radical publishing house in the English-speaking world, releases around one hundred books annually. They’ve curated a reading list addressing the urgent push for Palestinian liberation. Additionally, Verso Books provides free digital resources accessible on their website.
Black Women Radicals (BWR) stands as a Black feminist advocacy organization committed to amplifying and prioritizing the radical political activism of Black women and gender expansive individuals. Explore this reading list for a brief introduction to the radical Black feminist political agenda, with a particular focus on advocating for solidarity with Palestine.
Podcasts
Paradigm Shift : Palestine Liberation,Decolonization, Resistance Poems & Resources
How to Survive the End of the World : Ceasefire