10/28/2023
FULL SPEECH BELOW!
October 22, 2023:
The Palestinian Youth Movement in Montréal invited us to speak at the U.S. Consulate as part of the march to the Israeli consulate, demanding an end to the horrific blockade on Gaza.
Despite the rain, we spoke to a crowd of over ten thousand people in support of a free Palestine. We spoke against the enemy that the Filipino people share with the Palestinian people, which is U.S. imperialism and its allies in Canada, Israel, and the Philippines.
Filipinos around the world are rising with Palestine. It’s time to take action.
Join us! DMs open. 📩
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We are the Filipinos for Palestinian Liberation or FPL.
We are here to demand the lifting of the blockade on Gaza and respect for the right of return for all Palestinians to their homes!
Filipinos for Palestinian Liberation is a new initiative. We have grown out of the need in our Filipino community to stand together with the struggling Palestinian people.
We are with you all in opposing the illegal and unjust Zionist occupation. We Filipinos are in awe at the unity and militancy that the Palestinian people have shown the world in recent months. Whenever the oppressed need an example, of a people who will never back down, we know that we can look to Palestine for inspiration.
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Why do Filipinos stand with Palestine? Our countries are far apart. Our languages are different. Our food and cultures and traditions are distinct. So why?
For us, it goes beyond charity. It is solidarity based on a shared enemy.
Like the displaced Palestinians, we overseas Filipino workers have been pushed out from our land. Poverty, joblessness, and landlessness back home in the Philippines force us overseas to work.
Although we did not experience a sudden and ongoing Catastrophe or Nakba like the Palestinian people faced, our hearts cry for home just the same. We stand with Palestine in asserting your right of return!
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Filipinos scattered throughout the world must stand with Palestine because we have the same enemy.
Because the bullets that terrorize the people of Gaza are the same ones that held our Muslim city of Marawi under seige, we know we have the same enemy. Shame!
Because bombs that level Palestinian hospitals are the same bombs that crush our indigenous land defenders and their homes and their schools, we know we have the same enemy. Shame!
Because the Zionist Israeli Occupation Forces conduct bilateral military training with the U.S. Puppet regime in the Philippines, we know we have the same enemy. Shame!
Our shared enemies oppress us and profit from our labour and our land. Our shared enemies are the Zionist colonizer, the PA collaborator, and the Philippine fascist. Our shared enemy is their number one funder, US imperialism, and their ally here in Canada! Shame!
Because of all this... Because we have the same enemy in Palestine and in the Philippines, and because your liberation is ours and our liberation is yours,
you will see us marching alongside you until total victory, until total liberation. Until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea, we will continue to support you and your right to struggle for liberation, by any means necessary!
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Our message to the Filipino community is this:
If you love our Philippines and if you love our Palestine, please come meet us. Let us fight together for a free Palestine and a free Philippines!
Kung Pilipino ka, sumali ka. Kung mahal mo ang Pilipinas natin, tumindig kasama ang Palestine! Tumindig kasama ang Palestine!
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And finally, our message to people in Canada is simple. Your tax dollars are part of this rotten system of oppression and war.
This country sells weapons and gives military aid to both the Israeli and Philippine governments, and these are used to commit atrocities in your name.
You have a responsibility to stop this injustice!
You must rise. You must resist!
Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine!
From Palestine to the Philippines, Stop The US war machine!
