November 29 marks the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. This year, it arrives at the darkest moment in Palestinian history as from the occupied West Bank to Gaza, Palestinians continue to face a genocide, despite a so-called ceasefire, at the hands of the Israeli military. The UN Security Council has also just approved a resolution that paves the path towards an American occupation of Gaza.
For the international community, this day is a yearly reminder to mark the anniversary of the UN General Assembly mandates contained in resolutions 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, 34/65 D of 12 December 1979, and subsequent resolutions adopted under agenda item “Question of Palestine.”
On that day in 1947, the General Assembly adopted resolution 181 (II), which came to be known as the Partition Resolution.That resolution provided for the establishment in Palestine of a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State”. Of the two States to be created under this resolution, only one, Israel, has so far come into being.
As early as December 1948, the UN General Assembly also called for refugee return, property restitution and compensation.and has also said that the Nakba serves as a reminder that close to 6 million Palestinians remain refugees to this day, scattered throughout the region.
The International Day of Solidarity is an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine remains unresolved and that the Palestinian people have yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property, from which they have been displaced.
Such an important day in the history of the Palestinian people and their long struggle for freedom and justice after more than a century of the enduring historic injustice rooted in the Balfour Declaration and the decades of systematic denial and oppression of the Palestinian people.
In response to the call of the United Nations, various activities are undertaken annually by Governments and civil society in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. These activities include the issuance of special messages of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Resolution 181 and to recall its efforts to grant the Palestinians their sovereignty and independence from Israeli occupation.
The day reaffirms solidarity with the steadfast people of Palestine and helps keeping the Palestinian cause live and present in the international events and the global conscience, For the Palestinian people, however, this day is more likely a yearly reminder of one thing only: how the international community has failed and continues to fail them.
Whether it’s the ongoing system of apartheid, the ethnic cleansing and other acts of genocide, or Israel’s impunity and ongoing support from its European and global allies, the crisis of international law and accountability is currently not illustrated any clearer and more tragically than in the shameful mistreatment of the Palestinian people.
On this day of observance we specifically remember that over 69,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the conflict in Gaza and the West Bank over the last two years, and that many thousands more have been injured and orphaned. This year’s observance takes place during a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic with hundreds of thousands facing extreme hunger and famine. The World Food Programme reported that the quantity of aid allowed into Gaza is severely limited and that only half the needed amount of food is coming in. An umbrella group of Palestinian agencies have said that overall aid volumes were between a quarter and a third of the expected amount. The UN estimates about 1 million people in Gaza, out of a total population of 2.1 million, are still living in makeshift sites after being forcibly displaced and are facing increasingly difficult conditions as winter approaches.
Most of them have no home to return to, since they have been intentionally destroyed or damaged beyond repair. In addition to all universities, the majority of the schools and hospitals, as well as places of worship have been destroyed. Diseases and famine, due to severe deprivation of food and essential medication, are striking fear in the hearts of an exhausted population. All these collective punishment measures imposed on the Palestinian people, is causing civilians to live with overwhelmed pain, anguish and heartache.
This dire humanitarian and socio-economic situation in Palestine in general, and refugee camps in particular, place additional burdens on international community to meet basic needs and fulfil their commitments to supporting Palestine refugees.
The UN declared on 16 September 2025 Israel was committing a genocide in Gaza. It was not a war, it was extermination with Western weapons and Western complicity. Israel has reduced Gaza to a living hell, its murderous actions backed by material and diplomatic support from the most powerful governments in the world.
In 2025, thousands of innocent people have lost their lives simply on the grounds of being Palestinian. 80 years ago, the same thing happened. Millions lost their lives simply for being Jewish. I want to see Netanyahu and those responsible for the genocide against the Palestinian people brought to the ICJ and other international courts.
The root cause of this situation is the occupation and illegal settlement of the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel and the continuous, daily crimes and the blockades of Gaza that have been committed against the Palestinian people for decades.
Although the circumstances of Palestinians have changed over the years, their core demands for liberation and return. and the need for resistance and solidarity to achieve this have not. The tenacity of Palestinians in struggling for their most basic of rights, and the continued solidarity of people across the world in response, offer a ray of hope that neither alarming rightward drift of Israeli politics nor the bleak geopolitical landscape can diminish.
The ongoing challenge for Palestinians, and those engaged in their struggle, this 29 November, is to translate this sentiment of hope into tangible structures capable of moving towards a different political reality. Today and everyday lets re-affirm our solidarity with all Palestinians in historic Palestine and their right to self-determination' with Palestinian political prisoners (women, men and children) in Apartheid Israel's jails, and with the millions of refugees struggling to make their legally guaranteed right of Return a reality.
The massacre of Gazans, as well as their steadfast resistance to occupation, has generated a global movement in solidarity with Palestine, with millions around the world organising to show they reject this mass murder and challenge the complicity of our governments and institutions in the Israeli war machine and the apartheid regime which powers it. Forcing governments to row back their unconditional support for Israel.
Over the past 25 months – and the preceding 75 years – Palestine has shown the world what global solidarity looks like: showing up for each other, naming the loss, protecting language and culture.
In drawing attention to the struggle of the Palestinian people we cannot but remember the firm stand that the United Nations took against racism, against the evil of Apartheid and supported the liberation struggle of the people of South Africa.
At the time his people were liberated, the celebrated leader of the liberation struggle for South Africa Nelson Mandela made a profound statement, which resonates around the world to this day. He said: “For many years the United Nations stood firm against racism. Because of that a worldwide consensus was built against this unfair system. We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
There can be no peace with Occupation. Today and every day, let us stand in solidarity with the aspirations of the Palestinian people to achieve their inalienable rights and support them to build a future of peace, justice, security and dignity.
On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I thank all who have stood with the just cause of Palestine in the most difficult struggles to preserve their existence on the occupied Palestinian land. Throughout this year, Palestine has been present everywhere and in the hearts of those who believe in justice, human rights, and dignity.
We have seen millions, from diverse languages, religions, and social and political backgrounds, carrying the Palestinian flag, not as a fleeting protest, but as a collective cry of conscience, an urgent and sincere call for justice, and a firm declaration that extermination, displacement, and starvation are not mere violations, but heinous crimes that threaten every human being on this earth.
Solidarity with Palestine is not a choice, but an ethical and human duty embraced by every living conscience. Palestine remains the cause of the human conscience that defines the principles of freedom, justice, and dignity, reminding the world that rights cannot perish and that human dignity cannot be defeated.
Palestinians don’t ask for much only that the world sees the truth as it is: a people living under the rubble, children growing up in tents, and mothers waiting for a piece of news that could end this long night. They’re only asking for what all of us take for granted: the right to raise their families in peace and security and give a better opportunity to their next generation.
Today is a reminder that justice and peace are universal rights. No nation should live under occupation. No child should grow up in fear. No people should be denied their homeland.
Palestine is not a passing event, nor a tragedy that can be ignored. It is an ongoing pain, an unbroken resilience, and the stories of people searching for a fair life that resembles them. On this day, raise your voices, every word may save a life, and every act of solidarity is a step toward long-awaited justice. Palestine deserves to be heard, and today, your voice is its strength.
The plight of Palestine Refugees remains the longest unresolved refugee crisis in the world. Palestinian refugee camps—from Gaza to Ain al-Hilweh—remain under attack, alongside the continued aggression against Lebanon, Syria, and the region. These crimes are enabled by U.S. imperialism and its allies. Even the latest UN Security Council resolution on Gaza seeks to impose a new form of guardianship that reproduces occupation under the guise of a “Peace Council.”
What is now framed as reconstruction continues the same order under new language, where control is maintained through policy and military power while Palestinian life remains constrained.
Solidarity means acting collectively to bring peace and stability to the region. It also means looking at two years of unimaginable violence and 77 years of ongoing injustice and saying: This is not inevitable. This is not complicated. This is not beyond our moral reach. It means insisting on the dignity of a people the world has tried to erase.
As the occupying apartheid regime's genocide of Palestinians continues with full impunity accorded to it by the United States and its allies, we are reminded of the international community's legal and moral responsibility to support — not only in words but through effective action the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people to end occupation and to secure their fundamental human right to self-determination. The occupation will end and Palestinian rights will prevail, no matter how long it takes. From the rivers to the sea, Free Palestine!
