The struggle for justice is stronger than any wall

 

Eleven delegates for fighting the US/Mexico border wall from both sides have just completed a journey to Palestine, where they spent a week building with Palestinians for a World Without Walls. 

There were many powerful moments: the delegation met with Palestinians resisting Israel’s apartheid walls in the occupied West Bank and in Palestinian-majority cities inside Israel, like Lydd, traded stories on resistance to the ongoing ethnic cleansing of native people from Turtle Island (North America) to Palestine, passed through Israeli checkpoints, and met with Palestinian workers who share similar struggles related to labor exploitation and dehumanizing border crossings.

See highlights of the #WorldWithoutWalls / #MundoSinMuros delegation.

The World Without Walls delegation included indigenous activists, a journalist, students and academics, clergy, a member of one of Mexico’s largest unions, and leaders of groups working on immigrant rights and fighting police brutality, disappearances, and, of course, the US/Mexico border wall.*

Nellie Jo David of the Tohono O’odham Hemajkam Rights Network, which fights for indigenous cultural survival on tribal lands bisected by the US/Mexico border wall, wrote this:

“The occupation here is so familiar to us O’odham on the World Without Walls delegation. We, too, cannot leave our lands without going through checkpoints and encountering armed guards and harassment at will…It is my hope to build solidarity here with the Palestinian people.”

The delegation held up signs in front of the wall with powerful messages like: “Palestina Vive – La Luche Sigue,” “A World Without Walls,” “Un Mundo Sin Muros,” and “BDS for Palestinian Rights.”

You can see photos and more powerful testimonies here.

This is just the beginning. Building on the relationships strengthened on the delegation, Palestinian organizers are getting ready to travel to Mexico for the Walls of Shame Caravan and the School of Americas Watch Encuentro. Interfaith Peace-Builders is sending a “No Ban No Walls” delegation next year, and they also provided critical support to this delegation along with many other groups.

You can join the movement for a #WorldWithoutWalls on the Nov. 9 Day of Action:

1. MOBILIZE – You can do anything from street actions to seminars to cultural events or media actions. A great place to start is:

The global #WorldwithoutWalls stencil action! Bring the #WorldWithoutWalls message to streets, offices, and walls in your community across cities and continents. Click here to download the stencil mask and a short tutorial.

2. STAY UPDATED & SPREAD THE WORD: You can keep up to date on action ideas and more by following @Nov9_NoWalls and @stopthewall on Twitter, using the hashtag #WorldWithoutWalls, and joining the Facebook event page. Find images, slogans, videos, and to share here!

3. SHARE YOUR STORIES – People and movements around the world are resisting the devastating impact of walls. Email brief stories, photos, events, and other materials to [email protected] so the Day of Action can lift up the work already happening every day for a #WorldWithoutWalls.

More and more people are seeing and understanding the parallel ideologies and practices of exclusion and separation in the US and Israel. As President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu celebrate the walls that cause thousands of deaths every year and destroy means of livelihoods and hope, we know that our commitment to collective liberation is stronger than any wall.

La lucha sigue. The struggle continues.

*Organizations represented on the delegation included Peoples’ Human Rights Observatory in Mexico, Rompeviento TV, Association of Relatives of Missing Detainees and Victims of Human Rights Violations in Mexico, Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights (with an observatory seat at the UN), Theological Mexican Community, Tohono O’odham Hemajkam Rights Network (carries out indigenous cultural survival work and border resistance around Israeli occupation profiteer Elbit Systems), Stop Los Angeles Police Department Spying Coalition, and the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity.Today, on Indigenous Peoples Day, grassroots leaders from and working with communities impacted by the US/Mexico border have arrived in Palestine. The World Without Walls delegation will meet, learn from, and share with Palestinians resisting Israel’s apartheid wall in order to build together toward a world without walls.