World Without Walls delegation is on the ground in Palestine!
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.
You can follow the delegation on social media using the hashtags #WorldWithoutWalls and #MundoSinMuros.
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The group includes journalists, students, videographers, clergy, and activists from both sides of the US/Mexico border wall, including Latinx community organizers and members of the Tohono O’odham tribe whose ancestral lands are divided by the US/Mexico border and wall. This is the same land to which Latinx migrants have been funnelled, thereby forced to cross the border under the harshest conditions and ensuring a maximum death toll.
Before boarding the plane in Arizona, Amy Raynel Juan of the Tohono O’odham Hemajkam Rights Network shared:
“I am looking forward to connecting 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.”
Delegate Daniela González López, international coordinator of the Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos in Mexico, said:
“This trip is extremely important to connect and strengthen the struggles of grassroots organizations in Palestine and against the Walls of Shame of Israel and the US that target/attack the dignity and sovereignty of the people.”
The delegation grew from an invitation from the Stop the Wall Campaign in Palestine to US and Mexican movements fighting the border wall. As he welcomed the delegates to Palestine, Stop the Wall coordinator Jamal Juma’ explained:
“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.”
From
Israel’s Apartheid Wall on Palestinian land to the US wall on indigenous land at the border with Mexico, walls are ripping through people’s lives and lands, denying people basic freedom of movement, and expanding state violence and control. The connections are deep: the land being cut by the US/Mexico border wall is lined with towers patrolled by Israeli military corporation Elbit Systems, and the Israeli companies Elta and Magal and occupation profiteer Caterpillar are vying for contracts to get their hands on the wall.
The World Without Walls delegation is just the beginning. Palestinians will join the Mexican Walls of Shame Caravan and the School of Americas Watch Border Encuentro. And, the World Without Walls Global Day of Action will take place one month from today! Hear the call from movements in more than 25 countries around the world to raise your voice for a #WorldWithoutWalls on November 9th.
P.S. A huge shoutout to those who donated to help make this delegation a reality. The US Campaign was proud to co-lead organizing of the delegation with Corsopal, Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos, Stop the Wall, and the BDS National Committee, with support and co-sponsorship from 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.
