Member’s Voice: Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
As a transcontinental assembly of fellow-travelers united by a shared vision within the urban front, we unequivocally denounce the ruthless and systematic ongoing acts of murder, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, starvation, and the unprecedented urban destruction inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the state of Israel, its military, security apparatuses, and complicit elements within both the public and private sectors of society.
As of March 1, 2024, and from October 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 30,228 people in Gaza, including 12,300 children and 8,400 women, as well as 92 journalists. Over 71,377 individuals have been injured, with more than 7,000 people missing under rubble. Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, at least 417 people, including 105 children, have been killed, and over 4,600 others have been injured. In addition, more than 7,000 people have been arrested.1
According to the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the State of Israel has been committing war crimes that constitute grave violations of international law. These crimes include the deliberate and widespread destruction of buildings intended for educational, artistic, scientific and religious purposes, as well as historical monuments. In fact, as of February 13, the latest data issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Palestinian government indicate the severe damage caused by the Israeli attacks on Gaza.2 More than half of Gaza's homes (360,000 housing units) are either destroyed or damaged, as well as more than 200 sites are of historical importance.3 In addition, 392 educational facilities were damaged, and all universities in Gaza were systematically demolished; some were housing tens of thousands of cultural objects.4 11 out of 35 hospitals are only partially functioning; 123 ambulances were targeted and bombed, and 267 places of worship were destroyed.
In addition, it is crucial to note that the Israeli government has now also chosen to weaponize deprivation of water, energy, food, fuel, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid against over two million Palestinians in Gaza.5 As of March 4, 2024, the tally of children succumbing to starvation and malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the North of Gaza stands at 17.6 These are genocidal actions that violate all standards of human decency.
The world's highest court, the International Court of Justice, has affirmed that Israel is plausibly committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.7 Israeli historian and professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Raz Segal, has described Israel’s war on Gaza as a textbook case of genocide.8 Craig Mokhiber, a Director in the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and a lawyer and specialist in international human rights law, policy and methodology who resigned in protest of the UN’s treatment of Israel’s genocide, stated the following:9 “Usually the most difficult part of proving genocide is intent because there has to be an intention to destroy in whole, or in part, a particular group. In this case, the intent by Israeli leaders has been so explicitly stated and publicly stated – by the prime minister, by the president, by senior cabinet ministers, by military leaders – that that is an easy case to make. It’s on the public record.”
We, as parents, urbanists, artists, curators, activists, cultural practitioners, organizers, and legal and academic scholars, say NO to genocide and NEVER. Moreover, we vehemently condemn the 75-year-old dispossession of Palestine10, the 56-year brutal occupation11, and the ongoing apartheid against Palestinians12. Similarly, we denounce the 16-year blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt13, along with the active campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide towards the Palestinian people in Gaza. These actions are being carried out by the state of Israel, with support from its backers in the United States government and other nations.
While humanity consistently wages war on itself and the planet, we hope to undo some of this harm via our work and growing solidarities. The ravages of war, genocide, and invasion that emerge from authoritarian, nationalist regimes toxically entwined with capitalist greed are to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. For more than 75 years, the Israeli state has deployed an architecture of oppression and apartheid to displace, surveil, control, starve, fracture, segregate, and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people. Palestine has become a laboratory for Israel’s violent technologies of war-making, surveillance, and policing. Israel has exported these technologies, along with its authoritarian ethno-nationalist ideology, to various countries around the world.
As we bear witness and collectively mourn, Gaza is experiencing an ecological catastrophe, impacting its social, environmental, and psychological fabric. The indiscriminate bombardment on a population confined in a concentration camp, coupled with the destruction of all forms of Urban infrastructure, including hospitals, not only claims lives but also shatters any hope for a future. Shockingly, the carbon footprint resulting from Israel’s first 60-day war on Gaza surpasses the annual emissions of 20 small countries, as per recent research.14 Despite this, the environmental costs of rebuilding Gaza are staggering. The process of reconstructing Gaza would necessitate total annual emissions equivalent to those of more than 130 countries, placing it on par with the carbon footprint of New Zealand.15
Urban Front connects committed scientific expertise, artistic, and design practice with grassroots active knowledge by co-developing new approaches for producing socially and environmentally just transformative outcomes. Our focus extends to organizing for labour justice, environmental justice, reproductive justice, disability justice, and beyond. Standing united, Urban Front opposes structures of power marked by racism, sexism, and epistemicide.
Within the context of the Palestinian struggle, we witness manifestations of these various struggles. The quest for a liberated Palestine mirrors a broader aspiration for a more liberated world, challenging colonial ideologies that dictate who deserves life, freedom, and land. The settler-colonial occupation of Palestine exposes the harsh realities of incarceration, policing, borders, and war. This violence must stop. Palestinians have the right to demand their liberation and access to that which will enable them to live in dignity and prosperity.
We denounce the rise in anti-Palestinian sentiment and violence. Simultaneously, we denounce antisemitic violence and hatred, which includes harassment and attacks targeting anti-Zionist Jewish groups and individuals. Additionally, we denounce the punitive measures faced by workers, artists, and community organizations for supporting Palestinian liberation. We reject a world where our safety and economic well-being hinge on tacit alignment with genocide and oppression.
At last, we urge fellow Urban Fronteers and organizations to unite with us in resolutely condemning the brutal dehumanization and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. We call for collective action in demanding both an immediate ceasefire and a lasting cessation of settler-colonial occupation. It is imperative that we stand together to address and counteract this violence.
