Three years ago on October 7th 2023, Palestinians in Gaza tore down the fences that surrounded them for the first time in years of colonialism, breaking through the blockade maintained by Israel since 2005, with thousands entering the lands they had been ethnically cleansed from in the 1948 Nakba. On October 8th, 2023, Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America (CT DSA) released a statement: “Despite 75 years of occupation, Palestinians are standing tall against apartheid… No peace on stolen land!”
Since then, over 80,000 Palestinians have been confirmed to have been killed by the Israeli army, with countless more missing, buried beneath the rubble, displaced internally or forced into exile. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, hundreds have been killed by settler terrorists, who have evicted Palestinians from their homes and enforced racist laws that trample on Palestinians’ freedom of movement, economic and political liberties, and fundamental right to self-determination.
Despite this slaughter and construction of an apartheid system from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, US politicians, including our Congresspeople and Senators from Connecticut, refuse to take even the basic steps to prevent the use of US arms to advance Israel’s genocidal ambitions. CT DSA and the Palestine solidarity movement in CT have repeatedly demanded that Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and others commit to vote for a total arms embargo on Israel and sanctions on the perpetrators of settler terrorism, and each time they have made excuses to justify their continued support for Israel and its apartheid project.
While politicians fail to hold Israel accountable for its crimes, Democratic Socialists of America are clear: students, workers, and all people who fight oppression around the world stand with Palestinians in their struggle for liberation. Despite repression by our universities, retaliation by our bosses, and arrests by ICE thugs, our fight will continue until Palestine is free from the river to the sea.
