Students Against Imperialism has formed as we saw the need to challenge imperialism where the United State is the world’s leading colonial power. This group was formerly known as Students for Palestinian Liberation. Now, we have combined SPL with other students and community members organizing for justice on the Mexico/USA border—with particular emphasis on how the two issues interconnect.

The US is trying to deport 11 million unrecognized workers living in the US. Even as mass deportation is being threatened, the US privatizes and appropriates resources from countries where workers fled from. This policy rips families apart; in Bend, Ore., there is a family where a deported mother has been torn from her three now-orphaned children, and the US immigration policy is a racist human rights disaster.

The same US government which has horrible immigration policy also pays $7 million a day to pay for Israel’s war machine against the Palestinians. With checkpoints, bombings, total domination of land, air and water, Palestine is facing an especially disturbing case of human rights violations. The US is backing the violence of Israel claiming the need for a democratic ally in the region — any ally who acts in this way is no friend of democracy.

The US imperial attitudes on the border with Mexico and in Israel/Palestine are examples of racial and imperial conflicts, with gendered and class implications. We must dislocate these power relations to live in a more just and equitable society. Join us this Thursday in the EMU amphitheater from 1-3pm as Students Against Imperialism will be gathering to perform a Direct Action in solidarity with Mexico and Palestine.

Toward Justice and in Solidarity,

Diana Salazar & Cims Gillespie