The scenes unfolding in Palestine and Israel are deeply distressing. We extend our heartfelt solidarity to all innocent individuals caught in this cycle of pain. Unfortunately, these scenes are not new. We will continue witnessing them as long as the roots of injustice in this land are not eradicated.  

There cannot be peace until the systematic expulsion of Palestinians from their lands ceases and Israeli occupation comes to an end.

Right now, bombs are raining on Gaza alongside a total siege that is denying Palestinians access to the most basic of needs, such as food, water and fuel. Over two million Palestinians live in Gaza, a piece of land roughly the size of Malta, which has been under Israeli blockade since 2006.

Half of Gaza’s population are refugees, that is, Palestinians who were forced out of their lands in 1948 by Israeli militias to make way for the creation of the Israeli state. The people in these refugee camps can literally see the Israeli villages and cities – where Saturday’s attack by Hamas took place – built where once stood their homes and lands. They witness the contrasting lives of Israelis living a generally comfortable life while they are entrapped in an open-air prison and regularly bombed by the Israeli army. Thousands of children, women and men have been killed over the past 17 years by Israeli aggression, with life in Gaza continues to be a hell on earth imposed by Israel.

But it is not only Gaza that is bearing the brunt of Israeli colonial policies. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, illegal Israeli settlements continue to spread across the whole territory. Settlers, with state support, target Palestinian farmers, laborers, and villages, daily and randomly, further annexing land.

Examples of Israel’s racist and colonial policies are many: from the desecration of holy Palestinian sites, such as the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, to the millions of Palestinian refugees who are denied their right to return, to Israeli checkpoints subjecting Palestinians to daily humiliation and hardships, and the thousands of Palestinians, some of them children, rotting and enduring torture in Israeli jails.

How did Western countries react to all this? Far from sanctioning Israel and exerting effective pressure on the state to stop these atrocities, they’ve actively aided and supported its colonial policies.

The result: the situation of Palestinians went from bad to worse. The despair of a people confined to a fragment of their land, suffering relentless violence and displacement, continued to grow.

Palestinians are currently living in much less than 20% of the land they used to inhabit.

We would like to see a land where people can coexist in peace – irrespective of their ethnicity or religion – far from the horrors that have been so prominent over the last few days, but which in fact have been ongoing for the past 75 years. Yet this goal can never be achieved as long as the horrors of Israeli colonialism and apartheid remain unchecked.

With immediate effect, the international community should call for the cessation of hostilities in Gaza and the release of all captives, both in Gaza and Israeli prisons. This should be followed by the dismantling of Israeli occupation so that each side can start healing the many wounds that have been inflicted by this prolonged injustice.

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L-unika triq ghall-paci hija l-ġustizzja – Palestina Ħielsa!

Ix-xeni li qed jaslulna bħalissa mill-Palestina u l-Iżrael huma tal-waħx. Is-solidarjetà sħiħa tagħna tmur lejn dawk kollha li huma intortament maqbudin fi tbatija bla qies. Sfortunatament, dawn ix-xeni m’huma xejn ġdid u se nibqgħu narawhom sakemm jiġi meqrud l-għerq tal-inġustizzja f’din l-art.

Qatt mhu se jkun hemm paċi sakemm tieqaf it-tkeċċija sistematika tal-Palestinjani minn arthom u l-okkupazzjoni Iżraeljana.

Bħalissa Gaża tinsab taħt xita ta’ bombi mill-ajru fl-isfond t’assedju totali li waqqaf għal kollox id-dħul tal-ħtiġjiet l-iktar bażiċi bħal ikel, ilma u fuel. F’Gaża, li hija d-daqs ta’ Malta, jgħixu ‘l fuq minn żewġ miljun Palestinjan li ilhom assedjati mill-istat Iżraeljan sa mill-2006.

Nofs il-popolazzjoni ta’ Gaża huma refuġjati – jiġifieri Palestinjani li tkeċċew minn arthom fl-1948 mill-milizzji Iżraeljani sabiex ikun jista’ jinħoloq Stat Iżraeljan. Illum il-ġurnata, mill-kampijiet tar-refuġjati tagħhom f’Gaża, huma litteralment jaraw l-irħula u l-ibliet Iżraeljani – li fihom twettaq l-attakk tal-Hamas is-Sibt li għadda – li nbnew fejn xi darba kien hemm djarhom u l-artijiet tagħhom. Jaraw lill-Iżraeljani jgħixu ħajja ġeneralment komda filwaqt li huma maqbudin ġo ħabs miftuħ u regolarment ibbumbardjati mill-forzi armati Iżraeljani. Eluf ta’ tfal, nisa u rġiel inqatlu mill-attakki Iżraeljani matul dawn l-aħħar 17-il sena u l-ħajja f’din l-istrixxa hija infern fuq l-art impost mill-Iżrael.

Iżda mhijiex biss Gaża li qed iġġarrab il-ħruxija tal-politika kolonjali Iżraeljani. Fix-Xatt tal-Punent okkupat mill-Iżrael, insedjamenti (settlements) illegali Iżraeljani, mifruxin ma kullimkien, jattakkaw bl-addoċċ u ta’ kuljum bdiewa, ħaddiema, irħula Palestinjani biex jaħtfulhom dejjem iktar art, mgħejunin bis-sħiħ mill-Istat Iżraeljan.

L-eżempji tal-politika razzista u kolonjali tal-Istat Iżraeljan huma ħafna: id-desakrazzjoni ta’ postijiet sagri għall-Palestinjani, bħall-Moskeja Al Aqsa f’Ġerusalemm; il-miljuni ta’ refuġjati Palestijani madwar id-dinja li tkeċċew bil-forza u mhumiex jitħallew imorru lura lejn arthom; iċ-checkpoints Iżraeljani li ta’ kuljum jumiljaw u jxekklu l-moviment tal-Palestinjani; u l-eluf ta’ Palestinjani, uħud minnhom tfal, li qegħdin jiġu ttorturati fil-ħabsijiet Iżraeljani.

X’għamlu ħafna mill-pajjiżi tal-Punent quddiem dan kollu? Dawn mhux talli ma imponewx sanzjonijet u pressjoni effettiva fuq l-Iżrael sabiex iwaqqaf il-ħruxijiet tiegħu, iżda minflok tawh appoġġ sħiħ għall-politika kolonjali tiegħu.

Ir-riżultat: il-Palestijani marru mill-ħażin għall-agħar. Id-disperazzjoni ta’ poplu msakkar f’rokna, filwaqt li jkompli jaqla’ fuq wiċċu u jitkeċċa minn artu, kompliet tikber.

Il-Palestinjani illum huma sfurzati jgħixu f’roqgħa ta’ art ħafna inqas minn 20% tal-art li kienu jgħixu fiha qabel.

Aħna nixtiequ naraw art fejn iż-żewġ popli jgħixu fil-paċi irrispettivament mill-etniċità u r-reliġjon tagħhom, ‘il bogħod mill-ħruxijiet li rajna b’mod prominenti f’dawn l-aħħar ftit jiem, iżda li fil-fatt ilhom għaddejjin bla waqfien għal dawn l-aħħar 75 sena. Din l-aspirazzjoni qatt ma tista’ tintlaħaq sakemm tibqa’ għaddejja l-inġustizzja kiefra tal-kolonjaliżmu u l-apartheid Iżraeljan.

B’mod immedjat, għandu jkun hemm talba mill-komunità internazzjonali sabiex jieqfu l-attakki fuq Gaża, u jinħelsu kemm l-ostaġġi f’Gaża, kif ukoll l-ostaġġi Palestinjani fil-ħabsijiet Iżraeljani. Wara dan, għandu jibda’ proċess sabiex l-Iżrael iżarma l-okkupazzjoni tiegħu, u kull naħa tibda tagħlaq il-feriti li nħolqu b’din l-inġustizzja storika.