A rally for Palestine marched through Istanbul, Turkey on November 29, marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Organized by a number of Turkish leftist parties and trade unions under the slogan “We will expand the boycott movement and isolate the Zionist entity in support of the Palestinian resistance,” marchers raised Palestinian flags as well as banners of the PFLP and signs supporting the Palestinian people and their resistance.
Demonstrators chanted as they marched down Istiklal Street: “Zionism will be defeated and the Palestinian resistance will be victorious,” “A stone in the hand will defeat the tank; the resistance will win.” Aisha Dozkan read the statement below at the close of the march on behalf of the Boycott committee that organized the event:
“Palestine stands in resistance and struggle against the Zionist entity, the apartheid regime labeled “Israel”, and against all of the colonialist and imperialist powers that support it. Palestine is the symbol of the struggle of oppressed peoples everywhere for truth, justice and freedom. The people of Palestine have inherited their struggle through generations and today are entering a new phase of resistance. The Palestinian resistance, an integral part of the free people of the region and the world, is determined to expand its struggle against the Zionist entity, and against the expansionist colonial apartheid system. The Palestinian people resist this racist entity as one people in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Jerusalem, in the occupied lands of 1948, and the diaspora. At the same time, the global movement of solidarity with Palestine and the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israeli is getting stronger and expanding its influence in support of the Palestinian peoples struggle.
This year, the world has witnessed the brutal Zionist assault against the Palestinian people, killing, wounding, displacing and arresting tens of thousands of Palestinians. And the Zionist entity is at the same time increasing its racist violations, including the seizure of Palestinian land, the expansion of settlements, the looting of economic and natural resources in Palestine, the policy of home demolitions, the systematic Judaization of Jerusalem, the continued construction of the Apartheid Wall and other racist policies of the Zionist entity aimed at tightening the grip of occupation on the Palestinian people. Yet despite all these attacks, the Palestinian people are upholding the resistance and developing innovative new ways to confront thiss racist entity.
The Israeli state is attempting to legitimize and cover its crimes and obscure the reality of the situation in Palestine by attempting to give a false religious character to the situation in Palestine. The reactionary forces identified with political Islam who are cooperating with imperialism lend support to this Zionist propaganda. What is in fact happening in Palestine is the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, justice and the right of return in the face of the apartheid regime of the Zionist occupation. The Palestinian people are struggling against the settlers of the Zionist project, who are not mere civilians, but instead a parallel army of the occupation.”
The organizers of the march vowed to expand their activities in the coming year to include local activities throughout Turkey to support boycott, divestment and sanctions and isolate the Zionist project, and supporting clear principles in the solidarity movement in Turkey to support the Palestinian resistance. They also emphasized the importance of supporting the Palestinian diaspora community in Turkey who are struggling for the right of return and the liberation of Palestine, and called upon the Turkish people to expand the struggle for a free Palestine from the river to the sea.
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