CT DSA welcomes the ceasefire in Gaza that began on Sunday, January 19, 2025, as a result of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their heroic resistance against the United States-backed Israeli genocide.
Although we never held any illusions about the cruelty of imperialism, the images coming out of Gaza for the past 15 months have shocked our consciences beyond words. The depravities committed by the Israeli occupation forces have inflicted a deep injury to humanity and dignity.
While we celebrate the reprieve from 466 days of unspeakable atrocities, the increased flow of humanitarian aid, and especially the release of Palestinian hostages from Israeli jails, we recognize that nothing less than the end of the occupation of Palestine will bring a total and conclusive halt to Israeli violence.
After the ceasefire took effect, Israel has launched a deadly military campaign in the West Bank that has killed at least 18 people, wounded dozens more, and displaced over two thousand families. Meanwhile, in Gaza, deadly Israeli military attacks continue to be reported, in violation of the ceasefire agreement. Most Gazans still lack access to critical medical aid, food, and water. Those returning to their homes are finding them demolished and recovering the bones of their loved ones from the rubble.
International solidarity cannot rest; now more than ever, we must capitalize on the upsurge of global support for Palestinian liberation to escalate the pressure and disrupt the flow of capital and weapons that prop up the occupation.
Although we know that the road ahead is long and the losses to mourn are unquantifiable, this is also a moment of celebration. The wealthiest, most powerful, most militarily-advanced empire in history attempted to wipe out some of the most besieged and dispossessed people in the world ⎯ and yet, they resisted and emerged defiant.
As we confront the advance of fascism in our own country, Gaza is the north star that compels us to recommit to revolutionary optimism in the struggle for a better world. We move forward in the spirit of the Palestinian poet Samih al-Qasim, whose words the Lebanese composer Marcel Khalife famously put into song in “Wa Ana Amshi:”
“Muntasiba al qamati amshi, marfu3 al hamati amshi | منتصبَ القامةِ أمشي مرفوع الهامة أمشي
I walk tall with my back held straight, I walk with my head held high”
