Letter to Shawn from the Stop the Wall Campaign in Palestine

Stop the Wall
Ramallah
07-06-2008

Dear Shawn Brant,

We have heard of your arrest and the arrest of other members of the Tyendinga Mohawk community, and we write to extend our solidarity from the Palestinian Grassroots Anti Apartheid Wall campaign.

The struggle against colonization and land theft is global for Indigenous people, and the Mohawk nation and the First Nations people of North America have the unconditional support of all of us who are fighting for our rights for self determination and against the colonial plans to strip us of our land and rights in Palestine. Canada continues to oppress the First Nations of that land, just as now it shows full support for the state of Israel and the oppression of the Indigenous people on this land.

In Palestine we are familiar with many of the issues that you face. In 1948, 78% of Palestine was seized for the establishment of the Jewish state: over 531 villages were destroyed and 800,000 Palestinians were expelled to become refugees: their descendents now number over six million. On the ruins of Palestine were laid the foundations of the state of Israel. In 1967, the remainder of our lands were occupied. Since then, we have faced relentless Zionist expansionism and land confiscation, supported by other colonial states such as Canada and the United States.

Within the areas occupied in 1948, Palestinians face discrimination in all fields: land is taken, communities are sandwiched between roads and walls, religious rights and traditions are restricted, Palestinian schools are starved of resources. In Gaza, the population is subject to rocket attacks, massacres and siege as the resistance attempts to defy the occupation and assert Palestinian rights to the land. In the West Bank, Palestinians continue to defend their communities and land against the encroachments of settlements and the Apartheid Wall, which carves through communities, dividing families, isolating resources and cementing Zionist expansionism.

In the same way, First Nations people have been struggling under ongoing occupation since the colonial expansion into North America by European settlers. You have experienced unspeakable crimes and seen your land and resources stolen for many generations.

The issue of Prisoners is fundamental to the Palestinian struggle as we understand it is central for your Nations’ struggle also. There are currently over 12 000 political prisoners in Israeli prisons; many of whom are youth arrested for resisting with stones against Israeli tanks that oppress our people on a daily basis. Anyone who is seen as resisting the Israeli state will spend time in prison; the majority of Palestinian families will have at least one family member in Israeli jails. Many people are tortured for information and many people are held without trial. We know that there is no justice in the colonial Israeli courts for our prisoners, just as there is clearly no justice in the courts of Canada for First Nations people.

There are so many unfortunate similarities that can be made between the Palestinians and the Mohawks of Tyendinaga; from a history of murder dispossession and displacement, to land and resource confiscation and the poisoning of our lands. But we know also that our struggles for land and self-determination are united. We continue to resist as you continue to resist. In the past weeks, the village of Ni’lin has been a site of active struggle against the latest Occupation land grab. Frequent protests and confrontations between villagers and Occupation soldiers have occurred on the site where bulldozers are razing land to build the latest segment of the Apartheid Wall. This new section will isolate 2,500 dunums of agricultural land from Ni’lin. The village of Nil’in owned 58 000 dunums of land before 1948 – 40 000 dunums were annexed in the Nakba. Then due to the settlements of Kiryat Sefer, Mattiyahu and Maccabim and further land confiscations, Ni’lin was left with just 10,000 of its original 58,000 dunums of land. In the same way in Tyendinaga you have seen your land confiscated and stolen by the Canadian state from 92 700 acres to only 17 000 acres today.

Ni’lin will soon be ghettoized and isolated from the rest of the West Bank, with its main entrance being a tunnel running under the segregated settler-only road. Not only will this involve the confiscation of a further 200 dunums, but it will also effectively give the Occupation military full control over movement in and out of the area.

Even in the face of these crimes, Nil’in demonstrations are growing against this Apartheid system that Israel has created, and Ni’lin is just one example of resistance being carried out throughout Palestine. We know also that the Palestinian struggle is just one instance of the struggle throughout the world: against colonialism, against racism, and for self determination and fundamental rights.

We are inspired to know of your land reclamation and continuing fight for justice. We call for the release of your political prisoners and for real justice for First Nations communities.

We stand with the Mohawks of Tyendinaga in your struggle.

In solidarity,
Jamal Juma’
Coordinator
The Palestinian Grassroots Anti Apartheid Wall Campaign – www.stopthewall.org