Washington, D.C. | adc.org | October 7, 2023

The unprecedented and ongoing resistance by Palestinians from Gaza, that caught Israel by surprise, did not happen in a vacuum. This is the response of a people pushed beyond endurance. 

For decades Israel has been perpetrating unspeakable crimes against humanity, collective punishment, and has sustained an open air prison for Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip. It has allowed for the relentless and daily attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian towns and cities, and the desecration of Holy sites. 

Palestinian families have been mercilessly torn apart, and generations of Palestinians have grown up in the grip of violent oppression by an occupying force. To overlook or minimize these facts is to lack depth in understanding and compromise moral clarity. 

Palestinians are asserting their right to self-determination and unequivocally demanding their freedom. Never underestimate the will of an oppressed and occupied people to be free.