“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” — Desmond Tutu
Content Warning: Genocide
We add our name and support to the call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and access for humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza.
Justice Outside has long been aligned with the global call for the end to genocide that results from systems of oppression, domination and colonization and historically we have focused our efforts and our platform on what is happening within the United States. At our core, our work for liberation is informed by Black activists like Angela Davis and countless other luminaries who’ve highlighted the importance of solidarity between Black and Palestinian struggles for liberation. This is yet another reason we raise our voices in solidarity with Palestine today. The atrocities that have been enacted upon the Palestinian people can not be left unaddressed. It’s our moral imperative as an organization that is working toward liberation to raise our voices in any way we can against genocide and add to the call for an immediate ceasefire.
Justice Outside has its roots in ensuring the health and wellbeing of young people. To that end, as we are seeing in Gaza, no population is more endangered and impacted than young Palestinians. If young people are our North Star, then let us follow the path that ensures that their lives and humanity are protected. A ceasefire is necessary.
The continued violence and occupation has a devastating environmental impact in Palestine. To believe that environmental organizations within the United States do not have an obligation and a stake in global communities’ liberation and the achievement of peace is a privilege not afforded to everyone, and therefore neutrality about what is happening in Palestine and to Palestinians can not exist. These same principles, to advocate for liberation and environmental protection during conflict and forced displacement, apply to continued atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, West Papua, and Sudan. We therefore also call on all environmental organizations, especially those within the United States, to add their voices and take action in any way we can.
What we can do now:
- Educate yourself about what is happening: Since October 7, Israel has dramatically escalated violence against Palestinians under its regime, recognized as a system of apartheid by Amnesty International and many other Human Rights organizations across the globe. Israel has cut off more than 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from food, water, medicine, electricity, and fuel. According to the Ministry of Health of Palestine and the Palestine Red Crescent Society, over 13,000 people have been killed; more than 30,000 injured people requiring immediate treatment within overstretched hospitals; and more than 100 attacks against health care institutions have been reported. Furthermore, the Israeli state is reaching into even further geographies, having devastating impacts on Palestinians outside of Gaza. Their tactics serve to silence and further dismantle power-building efforts and support coming from the global community. The continued support of Israel’s military action and the occupation of Palestine endorsed and funded by the U.S. government is shameful and a pressing environmental justice issue.
- We are also deeply concerned about the rise in anti-semitism and Islamophobia in the United States. Here are guidelines and toolkits from the United Nations on addressing anti-semitism and here are more information and tools for ending Islamophobia.
Lastly, as an organization Justice Outside works to center the joy of People of Color, and there is no joy in these times of violence and inhumanity, and yet we persevere. So in lieu of joy, let us hold onto hope and action. Hope that peace and justice can be achieved. Hope that a day will be reached in which perseverance in the face of atrocities is no longer needed. Hope that our humanity will be seen and held as sacred in all corners of the world. Hope that a decolonized world free of occupation and apartheid is possible. And until that day, let us act, let us feel and let us grieve. Let us not shy away from raising our voices for what is most sacred: our lives and our humanity. And let us move forward together toward our collective liberation, because none of us are free, until all of us are free.