Although I’ve long been supportive of the Palestinian struggle, my work inevitably grew in Oct. 2023 as Israeli genocide and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians pushed the edges of broadly accepted violence, hastening the slow violence that never ends in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. While the struggle for a Free Palestine has grown massively, why don’t we collectively build the same movement for the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Sudan, amongst other global communities?
The call for our eyes to turn towards the Congo is due to neocolonialist battles since the country’s independence from Belgium in 1960. The availability of natural resources, ethnic tensions and political unrest have fueled conflict, and, partially due to the imperialist history of the region, efforts to engage in transnational solidarity have grown.
Sudan’s current situation is also rooted in a sanguinary history fueled by colonialism and imperialism. The current violence, which will enter its third year in April, is becoming comparable to the Darfur uprising 22 years ago, which ended with 300,000 dead and the displacement of 2.5 million.
Each situation needs more attention and are just two of the many acts of imperial violence and political corruption that are commonly left out of major news cycles. We must also avoid pinning the Palestinian struggle against other global struggles and even efforts for justice in our own backyards.
Firstly, those wondering why Palestine is making it into their everyday lives but other instances of genocide aren’t, largely have committed themselves very little to either issue. It is a question that too many use to admonish themselves from any guilt they might be feeling for staying silent about either genocide.
The Palestinian cause has raised awareness for global issues once again, forcing many of us to pay attention to something that we can too easily ignore. When we turn our attention to one injustice, we open ourselves up to finding similarities and building solidarity across borders and issues.
Just as South African apartheid protests serve as the basis for protests against Israeli apartheid, Palestinian liberation can serve as inspiration for countries and communities around the world. History shows time and time again the power of campus movements, especially with regards to global affairs. It also shows that when students and other communities are organized, they build capacities to focus on a range of issues.
Campus activism in the 1960s and 1970s had an organization for just about every issue. This largely stemmed from anti-war protests regarding the Vietnam war, which offered a blueprint for other organizing. The current multiplicity of crises demands a vast network of organizations, but this can begin with the Palestinian cause which has mobilized students and others across the country and opened the possibility for further activism. Two years ago, our own campus was filled with a general sense of political apathy, but if we are to avoid a return to such a state of mind, we must learn from history and continue to support the Palestinian cause alongside others.
We need to ask questions about why certain issues are being ignored, but those questions shouldn’t be about valuing one conflict over another. Instead, learning from the current state of activism, building coalitions and centering solidarity whilst also retaining a focus would allow for the radically different future many of us would like to see. Answers are found in solidarity, not division.
Conflict in the Congo and Sudan demands our attention and organization, not the use of their suffering for reactionary ends. As we keep our eyes on Palestine, we must also remember what broader impacts such a cause offers. With President Donald Trump in office, we need the energy that campus activism has offered for the last year and a half, both for Palestine and for a range of local and global issues. Our action, and every right-wing reaction, is an opportunity to create a better future for each other.
