[News] Joint Palestinian Statement on the Occasion of Indigenous Peoples' Day 2018

[Anti-Imperialist News]

    Joint Statement on the Occasion of Indigenous Peoples' Day 2018

09 October 2018 
-http://www.addameer.org/news/joint-statement-occasion-indigenous-peoples-day-2018

*Palestinian Support for Indigenous Peoples’ Day Commemorations and 
Historical Justice from Palestine to Turtle Island*

*In August 2018, several Palestinian human rights organizations attended 
The Red Nation’s annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.*

We, the undersigned Palestinian human rights and community 
organizations, state as follows:

 1.

    In August 2018, several Palestinian human rights organizations
    attended The Red Nation’s annual conference in Albuquerque, New
    Mexico. The Red Nation, a community organization dedicated to
    Indigenous liberation, extended an invitation to Palestinian civil
    society to participate in the conference, exchange strategies for
    securing human rights and historical justice, and develop shared
    language around systems of oppression as well as future visions of
    decolonization and self-determination.

 2.

    October 8, 2018 marks Indigenous Peoples’ Day, officially celebrated
    in the United States as Columbus Day. This day marks the arrival of
    Christopher Columbus in 1492 to indigenous lands in what is now
    known as the ‘Americas’, and the arrival of foreign domination over
    its Native peoples. Though recognized as a historical event, the
    dehumanizing structures introduced by the European
    settler-colonization of Turtle Island have allowed for the
    elimination of the Native people, the confiscation of Native land
    and the extraction of natural resources. Such institutionalized
    hierarchy of human life continues to the present day.

 3.

    Similarly, the Nakba, Arabic for ‘Catastrophe’, is our rupture. In
    1948, 85% of the Palestinian people were forcibly displaced from
    their homeland and over 500 villages were destroyed in order to
    establish the State of Israel. This process of displacement and
    dehumanization of Palestinians is ongoing. In addition to continued
    colonisation and control of the land, Israel attempts to preclude
    Palestinian collective memory through legal means. In 2011, for
    example, the Israeli Knesset (parliament) passed the ‘Nakba Law’ in
    order to deny public funding to any institution that commemorates
    Israel’s Independence Day as a “day of mourning,” violating the
    rights of the 1.6 million Palestinians who are citizens of Israel to
    preserve their history.

 4.

    While recognizing the limitations of international law, significant
    developments have been made in legal discourse and practice to
    protect and promote the human rights of indigenous peoples to full
    self-determination, including the right to history, culture and
    heritage. Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and
    Political Rights (ICCPR) recognizes the right of all people to
    self-determination. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
    Indigenous Peoples’ (UNDRIP) was adopted by the UN general assembly
    in 2007 to elaborate on existing human rights standards as they
    apply specifically to indigenous peoples. We call on all governments
    to fully implement human rights instruments that ensure the
    survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples.

 5.

    We acknowledge that any advancement for human rights is the result
    of the “sumoud” (steadfastness) of the people and their sustained
    efforts to transform the dehumanizing institutions and structures of
    colonialism and oppression. We support and celebrate the victories
    of indigenous people on Turtle Island to change Columbus Day from a
    holiday that glorifies colonialism, to a day that respects and
    honours Native people. To date, 55 cities in the United States now
    celebrate Indigenous People’s Day. We welcome your victories and are
    reminded that community mobilization is often the strongest path for
    achieving human rights and collective liberation.

 6.

    Truth, like accountability, is a virtue of justice. Centering the
    lived experiences of those impacted by oppression lays a foundation
    of collective knowledge upon which society can construct just legal,
    social and political solutions. By first publicly reclaiming
    critical facts about the injustices of the past, restorative
    practices such as the right of return, reparations for stolen land
    and labor, and deep institutional changes can usher in a future of
    justice and decolonization.

 7.

    We call on the international community to center Native history as
    the necessary beginning of historical reconciliation and a
    collectively emancipatory process of decolonization.

 8.

    In solidarity, we celebrate Indigenous People’s Day and the
    continued strength of the world’s indigenous peoples.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
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