October was a month of fundamental acknowledgement for Filipinos and Palestinians. For Filipinos, the month is observed as Peasant Month, which is dedicated to acknowledging the agrarian reform sparked by the abuse that peasants faced due to imperial control and feudalism. For Palestinians, Oct. 10 marks the ceasefire and also the anniversary of the Al Aqsa flood.
At first, I thought that the assemblage of Filipinos and Palestinians was a sheer act of solidarity, but historically, it stems from shared experiences such as land dispossession and state violence.
Though the origins of each nation’s issues are exceedingly different circumstances, the issues themselves share numerous parallels with their friends just an ocean away.
According to a survey by Social Weather Stations and Stratbase, 27.5 per cent of Filipino families are facing involuntary hunger, which is roughly 7.5 million households. This is the highest it has been since the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August, the United Nations-backed global hunger monitor declared that Gaza is experiencing famine due to the Israeli blockade preventing access to essentials. An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) survey found that one of the main contributing factors to the Stage 5 catastrophe is food system collapse. According to a survey by the United Nations, half of Gaza households say access to food hasn’t improved or has worsened following the ceasefire.
Similarly, the Negros famine was sparked during the wind-down of the martial law under Ferdinand Marcos. Negros is a Philippine island best known for its sugar production. However, after the international price of sugar dropped exponentially in a market crash, numerous sugar workers lost their jobs, resulting in the majority of sugar planters going bankrupt. Due to the collapse and reliance on sugar as the only source of agricultural income, many families experienced malnutrition and starvation.
Having intersecting issues such as famine born through sovereignty were horrific, but they kick-started anti-militarist movements, with peasants as the force behind it.
This September, the State of Palestine was declared its own sovereign state by the United Nations, with 157 countries recognizing it as such. However, it was recognized by the Philippines in 1989, making it one of the first members of the United Nations to acknowledge them.
This is a drastic change of heart from the United Nations partition of Palestine in 1947, the division of the state into separate lands, one Arab and one Jewish. However, according to the World History Encyclopedia, Palestine is considered one of the earliest sites of human life, appearing in scriptures as early as the 5th Century BCE, making it more than 2,000 years older than the start of the Zionist movement in 1882. With the Zionist government's agreement to the partition, but the Arab leaders' rejection, this sparked the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
With the Philippines and other countries acknowledging Palestine early, it has contributed to its current acknowledgement as a state. Though politically, the Philippine government has been far from perfect when it comes to its own issues and Palestine, it's the Filipino peasants who have one of the loudest voices globally on the issue.
The Filipino proletariat has consistently held protests and vigils, speaking out against and honouring Palestinian deaths. The most recent one was in Quezon City, where militant groups were led by SANLAKAS, a progressive coalition and political party-list organization that focuses on progressivism. There, they honoured six journalists reporting on Palestine assassinated in a besieged enclave.
In a meeting at the Palestinian Embassy in the Philippines, the Palestinian Ambassador to the Philippines, Mounir Y.K. Anastas, said that both countries experienced imperialism, but that Palestine is still enduring colonial occupation. He identified that, though Jerusalem is sacred in many contexts, this issue is far from religious.
This isn’t just a simple act of solidarity, and neither are many other human rights alliances. Many are born through political and ethical sagacity, and the intersection of their issues, like famine and land reform.
Activism has reigned strong in the Philippines for decades. One in particular stands out to me. Robyn Magalit Rodriguez is an activist and professor who has helped mobilize Filipino-Palestinian solidarity. Her course is a step for people in solidarity with Palestine. She has marched alongside Palestinian activist groups for decades and is also a mentor with the Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS), which passed an anti-war resolution. Inspiring the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) to endorse the boycott of Israel in academic institutions.
“The adoption of this resolution by the General Membership of the AAAS is precedent-setting. This is the first time that a professional association of academics anywhere outside the Arab world adopts such an unequivocal resolution in support of the boycott of Israeli academic institutions,” BDS said in a statement.
Though genocide and government corruption are very different crises, the peasants of both countries have faced dispossession. The union of their voices has made a difference in educating the public on the heinous war crimes and injustices Palestinians are facing.
Solidarity isn’t only about saving people's lives. It's saving their nations.
