This week we continue to witness the brutal violence against children, young people and adults in Palestine by the Israeli state aided by weapons made here in the UK. What can we do? How can we keep focused and committed to liberation?
As an artist-led organisation that centres children and young people, we believe in the fundamental rights of all children and young people to live in peace and grow up free from violence and oppression.
We know that art, culture and community can be tools of resistance and change. Here are some ways we can stay engaged and involved:
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>PACBI represents a non-violent, peaceful means to advocate for these rights by calling for the boycott of institutions that are complicit in the genocide of Palestinians.
@artworkersforpalestinescotland are calling on Scotland’s cultural sector to amplify and publicly endorse PACBI’s call in an online demonstration of solidarity with the Palestinian people. There are currently over 150 Scottish arts and cultural signatories to PABCI. Check out the list, if you know an organisation who is not on it ask them to sign up.
Any cultural initiative, community group or collective can endorse via the PACBI endorsement form, on Artworkers for Palestine Scotland’s linktree. Together we can build a united cultural front in Scotland against genocide and colonialism.
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>Get involved in local community campaigns like Govanhill Apartheid Free Zone who are a community-led initiative to help our streets end their complicity in the Israeli apartheid state and amplify their solidarity with Palestine. They are working with local businesses to end the buying and selling of Israeli goods in line with the BDS Movement.
>Follow and support student-led campaigns for divestment from arms companies in their Universities @gsa.palestinesolidaritysociety @strathpalestine and at @gu_jps @gaafmovement who yesterday occupied the Charles Wilson building in Glasgow renaming it after Ahmad Manasra, a Palestinian who was brutally arrested in 2015 when he was only 13 years old and continues to be unlawfully detained by the Israeli authorities.
>Ask your kids of they want to get involved in local community projects like Pen Pal Collective a youth led art exchange with children in Scotland and Gaza in collaboration with the Gaza Collective.
– Continue to amplify the voices of Palestinians, share and support their campaigns
>Follow Palestinian Youth Movement, a grassroots movement of Palestinian & Arab youth struggling for the liberation of their homeland.
>Share and donate to crisis relief funds. Local community groups @thepenpalcollective have shared urgent calls & fundraisers from three youth arts projects in Gaza this week @gaza_collective @hope_and_play_charity & @jjawadcamp1
– Set up your own political education groups
>Organise meet ups with your friends at home, in the library or a free community space (like Rumpus Room and the making room at the Glasgow Zine Library!) and learn about anti-imperialism together.
>Use resources like @counterpointarts ‘An Artists Manual Against Apartheid to guide your discussions (AAMAA).’ AAMAA is an open source resource by @shubbakfestival that arms artists and cultural workers with the means to resist through creativity and offers practical guidance and reflective tools to challenge injustice and imagine a liberated future.
>Read, write and make art together. Remember that art is a tool of resistance and fuel movements for change!
The artwork in this post was created by Jillian Mendoza who is an artist on the Young Artist’s Committee at Rumpus Room.