Palestine Solidarity Day officially recognized in Philadelphia

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was officially recognized in Philadelphia for the first time on Nov. 29.

Mayor Jim Kenney, Amy Eusebio (director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs), City Council members Kendra Brooks, Jamie Gauthier and Maria Quinoñes Sanchez, State Representative Danilo Burgos and State Senator Nikil Saval all gave statements of support.

Palestine Solidarity Day has been observed around the world since 1977, when the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 32/40B declaring Nov. 29 as a day to highlight solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for national sovereignty. 

On Nov. 29, 1947, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the colonialist resolution on the partition of Palestine, which led to the Nakba (the Catastrophe), the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland as it existed in 1948 and the displacement of most of the Palestinian people by the Zionist Israeli state. 

Nakba is also used to describe the ongoing Israeli persecution, illegal displacement and deadly occupation of Palestine and its Indigenous inhabitants, both in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip and in Palestinian refugee camps throughout the region.

In Philadelphia many participants celebrated their solidarity later in the day at Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture’s event in front of The Soul of Black Bottom mural in West Philly, featuring the Dabke troupe, Al-Bayan.

Such acts of solidarity fly in the face of Zionist propaganda, which refuses to recognize the very existence of the Palestinian people. The participation of both progressives and mainstream-elected officials in recognizing the people of Palestine reflects the growing movement of people here and around the world to “Free Palestine!” 

WW Photo: Joe Piette