Gaza Solidarity Subway Action (2014)

In August 2014, members of Librarians and Archivists with Palestine staged an action in solidarity with the people of Gaza: we rode the NYC subways of NYC, reading excerpts of Palestinian literature and poetry aloud as we traveled. We also passed out double-sided bookmarks containing bits of a poem by Taha Muhammad Ali and the URLs of selected websites. (To read a press release describing this action and to see photos, click here.) Below are the materials and statements we created and gathered in preparation for that project.

Solidarity Statement: Librarians, Archivists, + Information Workers Call for End of Siege on Gaza, 07/31/14

As librarians, archivists, and information workers we believe it is our ethical obligation to speak out in the face of injustice. We call on our peers and colleagues to demand an end to Israel’s military attacks, as well as an end to the ongoing siege of Gaza.

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Image credit: Jordan Worley

The current Israeli attacks on Gaza have resulted in over 1300 deaths, including over 200 children, as well as the displacement of over 200,000 people. We deplore the violence currently being inflicted by the Israeli military on the Palestinian people and on critical infrastructure, including water, sanitation and electrical services, roads, hospitals, and schools. We recognize that the current attacks on Gaza are part of an ongoing history of colonial violence and occupation inflicted by the state of Israel on Palestinians for over six decades. In particular, Israel’s land, air, and sea blockade of Gaza has made it extremely difficult and in many cases impossible for Palestinians to travel in and out of Gaza and to access crucial goods, supplies, and natural resources.

Please phone your elected representatives, write letters to local and national news outlets, and join local actions demanding an end to the Israeli attacks and siege of Gaza, and a withdrawal of US military aid to Israel. We also call on our peers and colleagues to boycott and divest from companies profiting from Israel’s occupation and colonization of Palestine. Find out more information here: US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and Samidoun list of protests.

Signatories:

Literature, News, and Other Resources about Gaza Under Attack

News and Analysis

Other Groups’ Statements from or about Gaza

Resources for Activism and Solidarity

Fiction

Memoir and Life Writing

Poetry

Materials we used in the action

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