In Solidarity: DAP Stands with Palestine and Against Israeli Settler Colonialism
The Design As Protest (DAP) Collective stands unequivocally in support and solidarity with a free Palestine, the Palestinian people worldwide, and liberation movements for oppressed peoples everywhere.
Much of the work that DAP does is in a long lineage of Revolutionary movement organizers fighting against injustices in the built environment. These actions balance between advocating for the value of and access to the design disciplines while dismantling the discipline itself. As we bear witness to our comrades around the world rising up against violent imperialist, settler colonial, and apartheid states — who actively use the built environment as weapons against the people — there is no better time to recommit to our responsibilities individually and collectively to be clear in our thoughts, words, and actions: systems of oppression, performing as designed, cannot be reformed. They must be abolished before we can all be free.
“FreePalestine” is a call to support basic, fundamental human rights. We refute the misconception that this is a matter of religion between Jewish people and Muslims. We also reject and condemn the victim-blaming of Palestinian people in mainstream media and discourse. We reject and condemn the conflation of Jewish peoples, survivors, and histories with the Israeli settler colonial state. We stand with Jewish comrades, including Palestinian Jews, in rejecting and condemning anti-Semitism, including the anti-Semitic claims that Zionism represents all Jewish peoples.
Housing, in particular, is a human right, which has been a fundamental struggle for Palestinians throughout the history of the Israeli state. While 1948 is often cited as the start of the forced removal of Palestinians from their homeland (also known as “al-Nakba”), we recognize that the consistent loss of land rights and oppression experienced by Palestinians has been a reality since as early as the late 19th century, when the Zionist movement called for a Jewish nation state to be established in Palestine. Western imperialism, and specifically the United States with our direct foreign aid to Israel of $3.3 billion, propped up this movement, leaving Palestinians fighting for their land and homes. DAP Demand #06, which calls to create, protect, and reclaim public space through liberatory planning and policy, is the basis for our protest against a legacy of violently-enforced apartheid and disenfranchisement of Palestinians who continue to live to this day in conditions without housing basics: clean water, electricity, heating, safety, and autonomy.
As a collective of design justice organizers, we challenge the misconception that Israel is the “greatest democracy of the Middle East.” We see the ongoing struggles to preserve and expand voting rights, #LandBack for Indigenous people, and the Black Lives Matter movement in the so-called United States as parallel and intersectional to the Palestinian freedom struggle. The DAP Collective believes in centering Palestinian voices, and we support a free Palestine along withrights and reparations for all Palestinians:
- Right of Return forall Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to their homeland and communities from which they were displaced.
- Right to Live Free in their homeland and not as second class citizens
- Right to Vote and participate in a true democracy
- Right of Movement for all Palestinians to travel freely and safely by eliminating the Israeli “Defense (Emergency) Regulations” and related border and surveillance structures and systems that violently control the movement of Palestinians within their communities
We implore our fellow designers and allies to “educate, educate, educate!” ourselves and others about Palestine by exploring the resources and action steps compiled below. Designers, like all people, must fight against oppression from each and all positions we find ourselves in.
On Behalf of the DAP Collective,
Christin Hu, Bz Zhang, Fauzia Khanani, Michelle Lin-Luse, and Bryan Lee, Jr.
Support Palestine Right Now
- How to Support Palestine Right Now (@landpalestine)
- Read and Share Impact for Palestine’s Educational Resources
- Call/Contact your Congress Members to support HR2590
- Use the buycott app to boycott products supporting Israel
- Participate in and share the movement to Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS)
- Follow @wolpalestine, @adalahjusticeproject, @palestinianyouthmovement, @theimeu, @landpalestine, @eye.on.palestine, @bdsnationalcommittee, @uscpr, @palestinianfeministcollective, @nouraerakat, @khalq.collective, @visualizing_palestine, @radioalhara, @raniaqawasma, @jewishvoiceforpeace, @aroc_bayarea, @qudsnen
