Today is the 45^th year commemoration of the Palestine Land Day. On this occasion, the People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS) echoes the Palestinian peoples’ assertion that all land occupied by Zionist Israel is theirs. 

We join the Palestinian people in raising the Palestinian flag amid the Arab normalization with Israel. It is appalling that the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan have become enablers of the Israeli occupation and the erasure of the Palestinian cause. We denounce the United States for the decisive role it played in facilitating these relations through the Abraham Accords. 

How dare the US, Israel, and these Gulf Arab states declare that this normalization will bring forth the reconciliation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! What guarantee do we hold from Israel’s promised suspension of annexing the Palestinian territories when it has never ceased its landgrabbing? Just this week, Israeli courts have issued an eviction order against 550 Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah district of Jerusalem. 

The Palestinian peoples have made it clear – so much so that they have been risking their lives in protests throughout the decades – that just peace will only be attained once they fully reclaim their land and Israel is held accountable for all the inhumane acts it perpetrated.  

The Great March of Return, which also marks its third anniversary today, is an illustration of the unwavering conviction of the Palestinian peoples to their struggle in recent history. It was a remarkable feat, having sustained weekly protests from March 2018 to December 2019 along the borders of Gaza strip in the face of the Israeli army’s excessive use of force. The clashes killed 317 Palestinian protesters and injured 19,400. 

Opportunely, the International Criminal Court will be launching a formal investigation into Israel’s war crimes in Palestinian territories, including those committed against the Great March of Return. PCFS reiterates its support for this probe. 

Because land is life, the transformation of our food systems should include the narratives of occupied nations like Palestine. As such, the Coalition challenges the UN Food Systems Summit to tackle the Israeli occupation and similar issues as a food systems concern.  

Defend and uphold the Palestinian peoples’ right of return! 

Reject the normalization of Israel! 

Hold Israel accountable for its war crimes against the Palestinian peoples! 

Free Palestine!