Over the past few months, FairShare has been undergoing a strategic planning process. As part of that process, we have examined and reworked our mission, vision and organizational values. This has fallen at a stark moment in time as we bear witness to daily acts of genocidal violence against the Palestinian people in Gaza, with full backing from the United States government.
FairShare’s updated vision of “thriving farms, vibrant communities, fresh food for all” is not meant to be exclusive to our city, our state, or our country. While the systematic targeting of Palestinians' access to food production and aid has escalated since October 7th, it certainly is not new. Israel has enacted a food blockade on the citizens of Gaza since 2007, removing agency from Palestinians in choosing foods that meet their nutritional and cultural needs and leading to widespread food insecurity and malnutrition across the population. In the West Bank, Palestinian farmers have been forcibly displaced from their land through routine attacks on agricultural infrastructure.
Both the United States and Israel are settler-colonialist countries that are founded on the systematic removal of native inhabitants in order for foreign settlers to occupy the land. Today, our countries share a deep alliance centered on continued militarization and control. So, it comes as no surprise that given the reciprocity between the U.S. and Israel, we see the same tactics at home in the U.S., as farmers of color are stripped of their land and large segments of our country live under a state of food apartheid. We see the realities of racist and colonial violence at home and abroad as intrinsically linked. We can only achieve "thriving farms, vibrant communities, fresh food for all" when we engage in global solidarity and liberation to dismantle settler-colonization, and build systems that support all people.
FairShare’s organizational values of collaboration, trust, resilience, and equity are not exclusive to internal staff culture, but reflective of the values we hope to embody in our community. We recognize the impacts of consuming daily images of violence, and the dissonance that emerges when expected to carry on with “business as usual.” Rather than looking away, we hope to ask instead: How can we support one another in the face of such suffering? How can we leverage our power and networks to enact transformational change? How can we help build a world that truly reflects these values?
Over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7th. On March 26th, the U.N. Security Council called for an immediate two-week ceasefire, with the U.S. abstaining from the vote. Since then, we have witnessed a massacre at Al Shifa Hospital as well as the deliberate targeting of food aid workers. We must hold our leaders accountable.
We support full equality, justice, dignity, and self-determination for all people in the region, and any solution that is consistent with those goals. To begin this path, we echo the demands for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the U.S.-backed apartheid and occupation in Israel-Palestine. Please consider joining us.
Take Action:
Where do my tax dollars go? Find out how much money people in your city spend on Israel, and what could be funded instead.
JVP Action Alerts - Sign a petition and tell your elected officials to stop sending the Israeli military more weapons and facilitate an immediate ceasefire.
Better yet, Call Your Elected Representatives and demand a ceasefire!
Review additional statements from Community Alliance with Family Farmers and Soul Fire Farm
Check out A Growing Culture Resource Guide and Decolonize Palestine Reading List. They are jam packed with incredible free resources to deepen your understanding of this conflict.
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