On December 8, 2017 pro Palestinian activists held a rally in Vancouver, BC titled “Emergency rally for Palestine: Defend Al-Quds/Jerusalem.” More on the organizers and their political statement see the previous article “Vancouver rally: “Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the sacred land of Palestinian Arabs”.
Here is the transcript of the speech delivered at the event by Martha Roth from Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV):
My name is Martha Roth and I am here representing Independent Jewish Voices. We are a Canada-wide Palestine solidarity group of secular Jews namely who do not believe that it is important to support Israel. In fact we believe that our tradition as Jews is to express solidarity with the oppressed peoples whenever and wherever they are. We oppose the occupation of Palestine by the state of Israel. I’ve got some some notes here I hope I can read them although it gets so dark so early these days. We are outraged. What do we feel as Jews about Donald trump’s gesture this week toward making private arrangements with the Israelis to call Jerusalem their capital. We outraged. We are outraged at the insult to Muslims everywhere, to Palestinians and to everyone who lives in Jerusalem, and we hope against hope that they will not react violently although of course they already have, and there has already been bloodshed. Yet, we also believe that it could be a good sign. A sign that the mask of two statism [two state solution] has dropped from the face of western diplomacy. The so-called two state solution has been dead for many years, killed by Israel’s ravenous appetite for Palestinian land and its callous laissez faire policy of settlements. For nearly thirty years the US and its allies have paisley mild support for two states knowing this was an impossibility. There is no way a separate Palestinian state can exist alongside its grabby occupier and it’s high time that the US acknowledge this. Israel at this moment is a rogue state in flagrant violation of international law and of several United Nations resolutions, but nobody, nobody will call Israel on this, nobody, its crimes have gone largely unchallenged except by righteous powerless entities like the International Criminal Court. This latest grab is a clear sign that the mask has dropped, the gloves are off. Perhaps now the US and Israel can stop pretending that they live in a never never land of temporary settlements, and it meant that Israel is an occupying power and that Palestine is its internal colonies. Many Canadian Jews support Israel right or wrong, though many of them do feel uneasy about the occupation. But we and IJV don’t support an occupying power. We are a Palestine solidarity group and we share the outrage of our Palestinian sisters and brothers at this latest crime against them. But we also believe that when the fictions of Israeli hasbara [PR campaign] their state propaganda are swept away there may be a chance for justice. A slender chance but better than nothing. Viva viva Palestina.