Mata Press

PRESS RELEASE | May 15, 2024.

Led by the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS), global movements launched protests on the 76th Nakba Day, highlighting the enduring fight of the Palestinian people against occupation and ethnic cleansing. “We stand with the Palestinians in their moral, historical, and just struggle to end the Zionist occupation, return to their lands, and live in a free and democratic Palestine,” said ILPD General Secretary Liza Maza during a protest in Manila, one of many globally coordinated actions.

Nakba Day, meaning “Catastrophe Day” in Arabic, commemorates the Palestinian dispossession and tragic events of May 15, 1948, when Zionist forces forcibly displaced over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands.

“What we are witnessing today is worse than the 1948 Nakba. Every day we see the carnage of Palestinians. This barbarism must end. The genocide must end!” exclaimed Maza.

Since October of last year, 35, 000 Palestinians have been massacred by Israeli forces, displacing 2.3 million from their homes.

ILPC continues to lead and join mobilizations for Palestine, participating in solidarity encampments of students and youth. Coordinated ILPS actions for Nakba Day are taking place in cities like Dakar, Jakarta, Senegal, Melbourne, Australia, Indonesia, Seattle, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Autocratic governments armed by Israel

According to ILPS, the US-Zionist alliance has perpetuated misery not just for Palestinians but also for other peoples. The very bullets and bombs claiming the lives of Palestinians are also used against the people of India and the Philippines.

A 2024 report revealed that the Philippines is the second-largest buyer of Israeli weapons, accounting for 12% of Israel’s total arms exports, while India remains the leading importer of Israeli armaments.

“Marcos and Modi are not only puppets of the US but also support genocide by continuing their lucrative arms deals with the Zionist state,” Maza emphasized.

Billions of pesos from the Filipino people’s taxes have been paid to Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms company. Last year, a $114 million contract was signed to refurbish two old planes for surveillance and combat. “As a favored lapdog of the US and avid customer of genocidal Israel, Marcos Jr. continues to buy Elbit’s old and refurbished weapons, renewing contracts from the Duterte regime,” said ILPS.

According to Maza, the governments of Marcos and Modi have bolstered Israel’s military-industrial complex, which produces weapons used against the Palestinian people and sells millions worth of arms to autocratic regimes. “Worse, these weapons are now used to terrorize Filipinos and Indians,” she added.

Flood the streets for Palestine

ILPS condemned US and Zionist forces’ attacks on the growing movement of workers, youth, and peoples mobilizing in solidarity with Palestinian liberation. Maza underscored the need to strengthen our Palestine solidarity, stating, “We will not be silenced. With US imperialism brazenly supporting Zionist Israel’s decades-long carnage of the Palestinian people, it remains our duty to resist and forge stronger international solidarity.”

Also, the league called on people’s movements to expose the collusion of US imperialism, Israel, and all regimes that have enabled the genocide of Palestinians.

“We must flood the streets and tirelessly call for the end of the genocide. On Nakba Day and the days after, we must demand justice for the Palestinian people’s right to return to their homeland,” Maza concluded.