On 30 March, Palestinian Land Day, activists in São Paulo, Brazil, marched to the Israeli consulate to call for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. The enthusiastic rally brought together youth activists, political parties and Palestinian community members to stand together against apartheid and Zionist colonialism in Palestine.
The demonstration was co-sponsored by a number of organizations, including Samidoun Brasil, Amigos da Palestina, Frente Palestina Libre, Al Janiah, Masar Badil (Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path), Sanaud Palestinian Youth, Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization, IBrasPal, Forum Latino Palestino and MEMO.
Speakers included Rawa Alsagheer, coordinator of Samidoun Brasil, and activists for Palestine representing several groups and political parties. Participants carried a massive Palestinian flag through the streets of São Paulo and received strong support from passers-by.
Demonstrators particularly noted the role of organizations like the so-called “Jewish National Fund” in expropriating Palestinian land and targeting Palestinians for dispossession, from the early days of the Zionist movement to the present day, when the JNF and the Israeli regime are partners in an ongoing project to remove Palestinian Bedouins from their land in the Naqab.
Commemorated annually since 1976, the Day of the Land honors the Palestinian martyrs slain by Israeli occupation forces as they protested against the confiscation of their land in the Galilee as part of a general strike. It also represents the unity of the Palestinian people, throughout Palestine from the river to the sea and everywhere in exile and diaspora, and the land, confronting colonialism.
