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La Peña Cultural Center recommits itself to the struggle for freedom, justice, and peace in Palestine as we have since our founding in 1974. As an anti-imperialist organization that nurtures grassroots social justice movements, we demand a ceasefire in the Gaza strip. Our mission is to move the needle forward for under-represented and oppressed groups through cultural resistance, education and movement building; we do not condone the killing of innocent lives taken and we support the right of all pueblos (peoples) to be able to live sovereignly with dignity. 

We call our community to TAKE ACTION and to EDUCATE themselves to learn about how the state of Israel was created and to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine who are resisting oppression. Recent events did not occur in a vacuum but as a result of unrelenting colonial aggression, ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinian people. We cannot allow recent events to justify the Israeli military’s ongoing genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza. 

In the words of our Jewish and Palestinian compañeras and compañeros: 

“No Genocide in our name! Ceasefire now! We are American Jews demanding a ceasefire, a release of Israeli hostages, and an end to the siege on Gaza. We recognize that so long as the violence in Israel continues to be perpetrated in our name as Jews, we are called in to take responsibility. We know that so long as those threatening our safety continue to conflate Israelis and Jews, we are called in to take responsibility. ” — If Not Now, a Jewish-American anti-apartheid organization.

“What the mainstream English-language media refers to as the ‘Gaza-Israel’ war is in reality the struggle of a colonized people for liberation. End the siege on Gaza now! Palestinians have the right, enshrined under international law, to exist on our land and to resist annihilation by an invading colonial army. The blockade must be lifted. Supplies must be allowed in. And people must be allowed to return home. ” — Palestinian Youth Movement 

WE ASK OUR COMMUNITY TO TAKE ACTION: 

1. Educate yourself on the subject, please visit & follow: Jewish Voice for Peace, Arab Resource and Organizing Center,  Middle East Children’s Alliance, If Not Now Movement and Palestinian Youth Movement
2. Call your Congressional representative today to let them know you demand a ceasefire in the Gaza strip. 
3. Join the National March on Washington to FREE PALESTINE Nov. 4, 2023
4. Find out what native land you’re on and how you can be an ally on occupied land
5. Follow Sogorea Te Land Trust, Ohlone women-led indigenous org (Bay Area)

We stand with Indigenous sovereignty from Huichun (East Bay) to Palestine to Wallmapu (Southern Chile)!

In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

¡Que Viva Palestina Libre!