Latinx and Indigenous Activists Against the US/Mexico Border Wall Visit Palestine to Build Connections with Palestinians for a World Without Walls
WASHINGTON, DC, October 9, 2017 – On the occasion of Indigenous People’s Day, a delegation of leaders in the movement against the US/Mexico border wall has arrived in Palestine to build connections with Palestinians impacted by the Israeli Apartheid Wall and Latinx and indigenous communities impacted by the US/Mexico border wall
The World Without Walls delegation formed in response to an invitation issued by the Palestinian Stop the Wall Campaign and extended to all those resisting President Trump’s Israel-inspired wall projects at the US/Mexican border. The delegation, which includes journalists, students, clergy, and community organizers from both sides of the US/Mexico border wall, among them members of the Tohono O’odham tribe whose ancestral lands are divided by the US/Mexico border and wall, will meet, learn from, and share with Palestinians resisting Israel’s apartheid wall in order to build toward a world without walls.
Amy Raynel Juan of the Tohono O’odham Hemajkam Rights Network is participating in the delegation out of a desire “to connect two indigenous communities who are faced with militarized walls/borders that threaten our ways of life. To listen and learn and to build relationships across Nations.”
Jamal Juma’, coordinator of Stop the Wall, welcomed the delegates to Palestine, saying, “We are happy the US and Mexican movements have accepted our invitation to come, see and share experiences in our common struggles against walls and for justice, freedom, and equality. As the Trump administration fortifies the racist border wall, touting Israel’s apartheid wall as a model, we know we have a common ground with Latinx, indigenous, and immigrant movements in the US and Mexico. We will work to join our efforts to tear down the Walls and to hold those responsible accountable for human rights abuses perpetrated along those walls.”
The Latinx and indigenous delegates will bear witness to the myriad ways the Separation Wall impacts Palestinian lives, build direct connections with the Palestinian activists on the ground, and share their own experiences confronting the US/Mexico wall. They will meet with the BDS National Committee to discuss ideas to hold the companies building the walls in Palestine and the US Mexico border accountable, and will continue to build after the delegation ends with awareness-raising events throughout the month of November, with a focus on Nov. 9, Global Day for a World Without Walls, and Nov. 29, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
The World Without Walls delegation is co-organized by Stop the Wall, Corsopal, Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos (Observatory for Human Rights of the People), the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) National Committee, and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), with support and co-sponsorship from USCPR member groups Interfaith Peace-Builders, Norcal Friends of Sabeel-North America (FOSNA), FOSNA National, American Friends Service Committee, Global Exchange, American Muslims for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Working for Peace and Justice: Hebron Freedom Fund.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) is a national coalition of hundreds of groups working together for freedom, justice and equality. Founded in 2001 as the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, USCPR has been a leading player in the movement for Palestinian rights in the United States. The coalition is bound by commonly shared principles on Palestine solidarity as well as anti-racism principles.
Media Contact: Submit a media inquiry.
