Filipinos marched on October 7 toward the US embassy in Pasay City to denounce the ongoing two-year genocide and destruction carried out by Zionist US-Israel in Gaza. The protest was led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and the Philippines-Palestine Friendship Association (PPFA) as their response to the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) global call to action. During the demonstration, protestors burned the conjoined flags of the US and Israel, along with effigies of the two countries’ leaders.
The protest coincided with the second anniversary of the historic Al Aqsa Flood, an armed offensive launched by Palestinian forces from land, sea, and air, led by Hamas and the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, against the occupying state of Israel. The Al Aqsa Flood represented the Palestinian people’s response to seventy-five years of Israeli wars of aggression.
In the following two years, with the support of imperialist US and its European allies, Zionist Israel continuously bombed Gaza’s civilian population. The attacks destroyed hospitals, churches, schools, apartment buildings, and even evacuation centers.
It killed more than 66,500 Palestinians, including 18,500 children. Another 453 died from malnutrition and hunger. It also killed about 254 journalists. In March, Israel completely blocked humanitarian aid from entering the city, while Israeli soldiers and American mercenaries weaponized aid distribution to kill Palestinians. Zionist Israel also attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla and other efforts by organizations attempting to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
“On the second anniversary of the Al Aqsa Flood, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) stands in unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people and their legitimate struggle for national liberation,” the group declared. They described the Al Aqsa Flood as a just response to decades of Zionist occupation, colonial oppression, and genocide backed by US imperialism.
Bayan condemned the Marcos regime for its complicity in the genocide through its active collaboration with Israel. This involvement ranged from approving multimillion-peso arms contracts with Israeli defense corporations to conducting joint military exercises with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). “This alliance, sustained by the continued US domination of our politics and economy, makes the Philippines a partner in the war machine responsible for starvation and genocide in Palestine,” Bayan stated.
According to the PPFA, Filipinos have the duty to expose this collusion among the Marcos regime, Zionist Israel, and US imperialism as an expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people. “It demands that we link the violence in Gaza to the violence in our own communities, where militarization, displacement, and economic plunder are daily realities,” said the PPFA.
The group added, “In standing with Palestine, we do not abandon our own fight—we sharpen it, we affirm it, and we root it in a global resistance against imperialism.”
In addition to the protest, the PPFA led a forum on October 6 at the University of the Philippines (UP) Fine Arts. The event gathered mass organizations, Filipino and Filipino-Arab youth, Sultan Alim Saad I. Amate, Venezuelan Chargé d’Affaires Richard Gregorio Espinoza Lobo, Rafea Salem El-Hawi of the Philippine Arab Cooperation Council Inc., and Filipino-Gazan refugees.
The gathering also served as the Philippine launch of the International People’s Tribunal for Palestine, which will be held on November 22–23 in Barcelona, Spain, to hold accountable those responsible for serious violations of Palestinian rights. The ILPS organized the tribunal.
After the forum, the PPFA and its partner organizations opened an exhibit titled “Frames of Resistance: A Photo Exhibit on the Filipino-Palestinian Struggles” at the UP Fine Arts Gallery Atrium. The exhibit featured photographs, visuals, and other artworks depicting the struggles of Palestinians and Filipinos.
Meanwhile, UP for Palestine and Baguio for Palestine also held activities on October 7. Many progressive organizations expressed and reaffirmed their support for the Palestinian people’s struggle on the same day.
The Communist Party of the Philippines also conveyed its support for the ongoing armed struggle of the Palestinian people to achieve justice, freedom, and national self-determination. The Party called on all workers, youth, and citizens nationwide to extend all possible aid and solidarity to intensify the fight against the Zionist regime and US imperialism until Palestine is completely free. “Through an unending struggle, freedom will be achieved,” it declared.
