December 19, 2023
Dear Board of Directors of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. (LTA),
We, the undersigned members of LTA, urge LTA to release a comprehensive, thoughtful statement denouncing the escalation of the Gaza genocide and Israel’s siege of Palestine, all of which have violated international human rights and humanitarian law. Standing with humanity is never controversial, especially as an organization within the United States, a country directly funding money and weaponry to Israel and actively preventing a ceasefire. After more than two months of Israeli aggression, the Biden administration is pushing to expand restrictive immigration policy, such as funding towards detention, deportation, and border violence, in order to sustain funding for Israel and Ukraine. As an organization that prides itself in immigration advocacy and activism, this is a multi-impact historical moment and we cannot remain silent. Please read the full letter, this is an update to the letter sent on December 14, 2023, with more than twice as many signatures.
Israel is an apartheid state. Apartheid, and parallel persecution, is the reality for millions of Palestinians (Human Rights Watch, 2021). State violence is a “normal” occurrence that happens to Palestinians just for existing under military occupation and apartheid. In fact, armed settlers are backed by the state, and they’re even armed by it.
The settler colony wants to erase our [Palestininian coauthor] existence. We as an organization claiming to be “Latin by Tradition” should be familiar with how violent settler colonialism enacts cultural erasures. In turn, we end up developing organizations that preserve our collective and intersecting cultures, like Lambda Theta Alpha. That is why we need to speak of the violence currently escalating its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and Jenin, while also committing epistemicide. This leads me to why epistemicide is one of the reasons student organizations should be in support of a Cease Fire and an end to the Occupation and should release statements declaring so. Israel has bombed schools, universities, libraries, and other cultural and social institutions. They’ve destroyed statues and houses of worship in and outside of Gaza. They’ve killed students and professors. Most LTA chapters are housed in institutions of higher education. Every university should be concerned by these war crimes and attacks on education.
In the United States, education is still being attacked. Students are being censored and doxed. More violently, in Vermont, three college students were shot because they were speaking Arabic and wearing the cultural keffiyeh.
At the federal level, there have been hearings and bills to discuss the suppression of student voices and to continue to whitewash history books. LTA should also be doing what is necessary to protect members who are threatened with censorship, suspension, doxing, and other forms of retaliation for speaking against injustice, including for Palestinian liberation.
Moreover, we have members who are directly and indirectly impacted. We are grieving. This is a collective trauma for so many of us across the globe. We are bearing witness to atrocities, we are elevating stories of massive loss, carnage, dehumanization, genocidal language, and the threat of global scale looming over our heads. For some of us, we are losing our loved ones in some of the worst ways possible. This isn’t hyperbole. All of this is happening while our governments gaslight us.
To be clear, a statement sent two months into the ramping up of genocide is… late. Especially since the visibility on social media and the news has not ceased, members, chapters, areas, and regions have made efforts. Why is it still so critical then? Because it sends the message to members, like myself and many of the undersigned, that you see us and our families as human and worthy of being alive. That the efforts expanded by others are supported by a national effort. That the posts pleading for care and attention are met with care and attention. Furthermore, LTA is in a position to shape the narrative. Every day, more and more United Statians are learning the truth about the colonization of Palestine and how the UK and the US have played an integral role in state violence, strategic genocide, and abuse.
Lambda Theta Alpha was established through political activism. It is a key part of our organization’s history. In fact, many of us remember during LTA’s 2013 National Convention, there was a moment in which a sister from Alpha chapter stressed how important activism is to our organization. It is this activism that inspired many of us to become interested members and eventually sisters/siblings of LTA. We must remain grounded in our roots… and we don’t just say this because of Palestine. As you are aware, many members were disappointed about our organizational silence in 2020 during the uprisings against state violence and in affirmation of Black life. We tend to have to push for things to be recognized, this also occurred during the rise in anti-Asian hate, and many siblings from Asian American and Pacific Islander backgrounds were not centered. LTA cannot continue to remain silent — Palestinian liberation, Black liberation, Indigenous liberation, Asian liberation, Pacific Islanders, and all that of those marginalized are struggles interwoven together by experience and historical evidence.
Reiterating feedback on the e-mail sent by the Political Education Initiative (PI) Committee on October 26, 2023:
1) The language is ambiguous, and while not entirely incorrect, it is misleading. It minimizes the power dynamics of colonialism. The Vox source, at times, minimizes it to a land dispute. Zionism is deadly and imperialist, with plans to expand across the region. Israel has shut off water, bombed hospitals, cut off electricity, cut communications at least three times, targeted refugee camps, and destroved mosques and churches. The problem is settler colonialism and a genocidal apartheid government that is set on stealing indigenous land (ethnic cleansing), burning olive trees, arming settlers in the West Bank, murdering innocent civilians, and abducting (“arresting”) children as young as 12 years old. Please see this robust report by Amnesty, an international human rights organization, stating how Israel commits “crimes of apartheid” against Palestinians (2022).
2) The list of charities is not all trustworthy. The World Food Programme (WFP) is currently withholding aid from two countries in the region: Syria and Yemen. Yemen is one of the “poorest” countries in the region. In Syria, over 20 Million people lack access to food. Moreover, WFP delivered nearly expired food aid to Gaza in mid-November 2023. Additionally, the Red Cross has a contentious reputation for being irresponsible with donations.
3) Lacks serious socio-historical context. The humanitarian crisis did not start on October 7th. There is so much evidence to this. This started on November 2, 1917, after the Balfour Declaration. Without the historical context of the Nakba (1948) and the Naksa (1967), respectively, the PEI e-mail fails to deliver the “essential context” promised in the introductory paragraph. Some of us are descendants of Nakba and Naksa survivors, this email does not do justice to the lived realities of our family and national history.
There were several provocations that were missed. Any statement that does not reference the military blockade that starves Gaza, is incomplete. The provocation was in 2022 and 2023, when the Al-Aqsa mosque was attacked (United Nations). The provocation was in August 2023, when there was a spike in Palestinian children murdered by the apartheid government (Human Rights Watch).
Many of the demands made above were not addressed in the e-mail sent on December 16, 2023. In fact, some of us feel that e-mail was much worse. Due to the additional harm caused, LTA now owes members a public apology. Not everyone undersigned has received the e-mail, so I cannot address it here.
Looking forward, we demand LTA to act on the following:
1. Deliver a comprehensive statement that speaks truthfully and unapologetically. A solidarity statement should not mince words. It should use the correct terminology like apartheid system, settler colonialism, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. It should also be external facing as a statement and on social media.
It should mention the USA’s role in colonialism, genocide, and suppression of critiques. Currently, Israel receives $3.8 billion in military aid from the US annually under a memorandum signed in 2019. This is about 16% of Israel’s total military budget in 2022 (Vox, 2023).
The statement should connect readers to trusted sources of information that center the voices of the oppressed. Indigenous and Black voices should always be centered, to offset the ongoing practice of their dehumanization and erasure. For decades, Palestinian voices have been erased intentionally. At least 64 journalists have been targeted and killed during the most recent escalation. Please elevate the voices of heroes like Hind Khoudary, Bisan Owda, Motaz Azaiza, Sale Al Jafarawi, and Wael Al Dahdouh, to name a few.
There needs to be clearer calls to action that call for a CeaseFire, which is the bare minimum. Palestine can’t have peace until the military occupation is dismantled. We need a Free Palestine! A free Palestine is also related to Sudan, Armenia, Congo, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
A good example is NJ Area One:
a. It recognizes that the statement should have been sent sooner and that genocide scholars and international human rights organizations have called it apartheid and genocide.
b. Lists some of the ties to Latin America, since the plurality of our membership is Latine.
c. Charity organizations that have trust in the region: PCRF and Anera, are included.
d. Voices on the ground are part of the awareness raising.
e. Refers to our organization’s principles and how advocacy connects to LTA.
f. They included at least one LTA member tied to the impacted community and for input that included researched resources before publishing it.
2. Host teach-ins to educate members who choose to learn more. More sisters/siblings deserve to know the aforementioned historical context. Palestinian liberation is a racial justice issue, a disability justice, an environmental justice issue, and a reproductive justice issue. Israel has funded genocide and state violence in many Latin American countries, including but not limited to Guatemala, Chile, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Colombia. LTA’s Cultural Competency Taskforce has held virtual “Teach-ins” in the past, and now is a good time to teach about these topics.
3. Offer resources for grieving members. There are members who are directly and indirectly impacted by the 5+ genocides happening across our planet. Sisters/siblings need spaces to mourn and share together.
If LTA does not have the capacity to do this, it can share details about already existing spaces. In fact, since some members do not feel safe within LTA, it’s imperative that LTA share these external resources.
4. Provide resources and protection for members who face silencing, doxing, and/or retaliation from schools, employers, and/or other members. Examples are highlighting advice from legal organizations such as ACLU or CAIR National.
So many people across the planet have a smartphone in their hands; they’ve witnessed the apartheid, the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, the abduction of Palestinian children in the West Bank, and more. Over the last 3 years, I have seen the narrative and public opinion about Palestinian liberation change.
LTA has the opportunity to be on the right side of history- as part of the narrative shift with a diverse, multi-generational audience. In our grief and mourning, I made the time to write this letter. Please do not ignore it. We are not the only siblings in pain, and we are not the only ones noticing the silence and/or vague platitudes.
Respectfully,
[redacted: names of 134 LTA members]