Photo by Julia Larson from Pexels

CPERG, May 13, 2021

CPERG stands in strong solidarity with Palestinian youths resisting ethnic cleansing and settler-colonialism in East-Jerusalem. We believe that we cannot be committed to endurable just peace without speaking out against the injustices and structural violence that have been inflicted on Palestinian people for decades. Their Nakba and forced dispossession that started in 1948 is still ongoing.

Our member and former CPERG co-Chair Basma Hajir captivated the necessity for solidarity amongst academics and peace scholars with the Palestinian people in a most powerful way in the below message (published on her Twitter account here):

Dear Academics,

This is a moment for us to live up to our share of responsibility as intellectuals. It is a moment for us to condemn ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the brutal attacks against youths resisting erasure as the immediate source of current violence.

The structural violence that has been imposed on Palestinians for decades is unbearable. The desensitisation to the blood of Palestinian children is stifling. Speak up. Public discourse is a vital site of struggle. Speak up. We Palestinians need your voices.

For those who engage with decolonialisation work, the epistemic cannot be separated from the political. Settler colonisation is happening in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. Leverage your skills and position to amplify Palestinian voices. We need your solidarity.

(Author: Basma Hajir)

If you want to learn more about what is going on in East-Jerusalem and Gaza right now, we would like to direct you to the following information sources: @theIMEU, Jewish for Peace, and SaveSheikhJarrah USCPR. To hear important Palestinian voices, follow Noura Erakat, Yara Hawari , Mariam Barghouti and Omar Baddar.