Thousands around the world have already signed onto an “anti-genocide pledge,” which challenges signers to “stand with Palestine – not just in words, but in action.” The pledge was launched on May 21 by a coalition of Palestinian diaspora groups and individuals in Palestine amid an intensification of Israel’s siege on Gaza.
Signatories have come from around the world and represent a variety of struggles and popular movements, including former Palestinian political prisoner Omar Assaf, and Sana’ Daqqah, activist, journalist, and the wife of the martyred Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqah.
Other signatories include Simone Magalhães, a leader of Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST), Atallah Hanna, the Archbishop of Sebastia from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Anas Abu Srour, the executive director of the Aida Youth Center in the Aida refugee camp in the West Bank, US Islamic scholar and activist Imam Omar Suleiman and Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff.
In signing onto the pledge, signatories:
- Denounce the genocide against the Palestinian people,
- Denounce the use of starvation by Israeli forces as a weapon of war,
- Support an immediate ceasefire,
- Oppose Israel’s occupation of Palestine,
- Affirm the right of Palestinians to return to their land,
- Demand an arms embargo against Israel,
- And call for the liberation of the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners held by Israeli forces.
“I appeal to everyone who believes in justice and freedom to sign this pledge,” said Sana’ Daqqah. “It’s not just a signature, it’s a stance. This pledge is our collective voice against genocide and occupation. It is a message to our people in Gaza that we stand with them and that we will not be silent.”
“This pledge demonstrates our clear and concise stance on what we aspire to today as Palestinians in the diaspora,” said Daniel Jadue, member of the Communist Party of Chile and the former mayor of Recoleta. “So, from Chile, I am calling on all the free people of the world to sign and commit to this pledge.”
