The following solidarity message was given over the phone by former Black Panther and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal to the participants in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at the City College of New York on April 26.
I am speaking to you from the American system of mass incarceration, but what we’re involved in right now is something called mass education. City College, Columbia, Emory, and USC are all part of that process right now. That education is about the repression that Gaza is suffering under.
It is a wonderful thing that you have decided not to be silent, and decided to speak out against the repression that you see with your own eyes. So you are part of something massive, and you are part of something that is on the right side of history. You’re against a colonial settler regime that wants to steal the land from the people who are indigenous to that area, and you’re saying that is wrong.
I urge you, I beg you to speak out against the terrorism that is afflicting Gaza with all of your might, all of your will, and all of your strength. Do not bow to those who want you to be silent. It is time, right now, this day, this hour, this moment, to be heard – and shake the earth so that the people of Gaza, the people of Rafah, the people of the West Bank, the people of Palestine can see your solidarity with them.
I am a student of Frantz Fanon. I read him every day, and think about his ideas. When I see what is happening in Gaza right now, I know the people of Gaza are the wretched of the earth. They are fighting to be free from generations of occupation.
And so it is not enough, brothers and sisters – students – it is not enough to demand a ceasefire. How about this? Make your demand “cease occupation.” Cease occupation, cease occupation! Let that be your battle cry. Because that is the call of history, of which all of you are a part.
You’re part of something magnificent, soul-changing, mind-changing, history changing. Do not let go of this moment. Make it bigger. Make it more massive, make it more powerful. Make it echo up into the stars.
I am thrilled by your work. I love you, I admire you. On the MOVE!
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