Joint Statement for Palestine by Flemish student organizations
We, the undersigned student associations, support and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and Palestinian resistance movement. We firmly condemn the brutal barrage of airstrikes and complete blockade of medicine, food, water, electricity, and other critical supplies.
It is crucial to reassert that the unfolding violence must be placed in the context of Israeli apartheid. The responsibility must also be placed accordingly. Systemic displacement of Palestinians and occupation of their land has been ongoing for 76 years and has resulted in countless losses. The 16 year blockade on Gaza, ceaseless settlement of the West Bank and Golan Heights, and strategic demographic policy in Israel are blatant violations of international law and basic human rights. It is critical to support the resistance movement in all its forms; armed resistance has always been a primary tool for the liberation of the oppressed and will remain so until the means of the oppressor change. The armed struggle in Palestine is an inevitable response to the systemic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and revocation of their rights, and is fueled by the disregard of their calls for recognition and liberation.
We strongly condemn the international community for their support of this oppression and the discrepancies in how violence is portrayed based on its victims. We grieve for the martyrs and their families. We applaud the perseverence and commitment of the Palestinian resistance and the people of Palestine, and voice our commitment to the liberation movements of oppressed people everywhere. We denounce the involvement of Flemish universities in supporting the occupation through intellectual assistance or investments in this colonial project and demand the termination of all ties. We call for direct action from European and Belgian institutions, organizations, and companies including the VUB and other Flemish universities and student organizations to vocally condemn the brutal actions of the Israeli apartheid government and the blockade on the Gaza strip. We demand that Israeli flags raised on campuses either be taken down or for an equal or greater number of Palestinian flags to be raised. We call on students and the worker’s movement to organize and strike in solidarity.
Students, mobilize now; protest and strike; boycott Israeli products and institutions; demand from Belgian and European institutions and companies to divest from their Israeli partners and investments; pressure our representatives and government officials to sanction the Israeli occupation economy and its military industry. Break the silence on Palestine and support the rights and self-determination of Palestinians!
Signed by:
WeDecolonizeVUB, VUB
Imara, VUB
Hidaya, UHasselt
Marxistische Jongeren VUB, VUB
Comac VUB, VUB
Flux, UGent
ASCOM, VUB
Umoja Gent, Gent
