August 10, 2024 | Barry Weisleder
Scores of students and supporters gathered at York University on August 3 to demand that the over 14 thousand Palestinian prisoners, many of whom have never been tried by a court, be released from Israel’s jails.
Since 1967, when the Zionist state occupied East Jerusalem, the Gaza strip and the West Bank, it has arrested an estimated one million Palestinians, according to a United Nations report released last summer. One in five Palestinians has been arrested and charged under the 1,600 military orders that control every aspect of the lives of Palestinians living under military occupation. By comparison, in the United States, the country notorious for the world’s largest prison population, one in 200 people is imprisoned. Among Black Americans, the rate is more than three times that high. But even so, it is only a tiny fraction of an average Palestinian’s likelihood of spending time in jail.
Socialist Action addressed the rally at York U, convened by Students and Workers for the Liberation of Palestine, and which included speakers from Samidoun and JAZCto. The event was a fine example of principled unity in action for a common goal, in the context of the global solidarity movement.
