05/01/2024
FREE PALESTINE!
Agham Youth - Katipunan stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their quest for national liberation. We condemn Israel's misuse of science and technology in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Science and technology should be used for the betterment of humanity, not as agents of mass destruction. As of writing, the tragic toll of air strikes, bombings, and building collapses has claimed the lives of over 20,000 individuals and left more than 50,000 people injured in Gaza. Among these casualties were women and children with perished dreams and aspirations for a brighter future.
Palestinians have long been enduring discrimination, oppression, and genocide under the guise of Zionism. In the 19th Century, the United Kingdom committed to establishing a national home for the persecuted Jews across the globe, known as the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The UK occupied Palestine and took it upon themselves to implement this cause as endorsed by the League of Nations. The establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948 began the life-long tension and dispute between the Arabs and Jewish community that has lasted up to the present.
However, this cause has come at an immense cost, displacing Palestinians from their homes and confining them to the Gaza Strip and some areas of the West Bank, where access to basic human needs is severely limited. Over the years, Israel deprived them of their right to privacy, prosperity, self-determination, and freedom of expression by controlling their goods, technology, social media platforms, and even the global narrative about them.
Regrettably, scientific and technological advancements are actively contributing to the ongoing genocide with the support of Israel's ally, the United States. Equipped with economic aid, high-caliber military equipment, air defense missiles, and aircraft, Israel has been relentlessly and indiscriminately bombing heavily populated areas in Gaza โ schools, hospitals, churches, and refugee camps. The alleged use of prohibited white phosphorus bombs, supplied by the US, over densely populated areas in Gaza is a stark example of this dire situation. This substance inflicts permanent burns to the muscles and bones that can even lead to organ failure and death. Israel also allegedly deployed deadly nerve gas in Gaza. It is a cheap and fast-acting agent that cripples the muscles around the lungs and can contaminate water supplies. Scientists intended to formulate a stronger pesticide, but it was instead used by the N***s and succeeding nations in chemical warfare.
In light of science's role in this tragedy, Agham Youth-Katipunan calls upon STEM professionals and science students to actively engage in the Palestinian struggle for national liberation. We urge freedom-loving youth scientists to denounce the unjust occupation of Palestine by Israel and to stand in support of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination. Let us utilize technology and science for justice, peace, and liberation. Science should ultimately serve the people.
Scientists against Zionism!
End the Occupation of Palestine!
R&D for peace, not weapons!
Science for peace, not war!
Scientists, unite against apartheid!