NAGKAKAISANG PAHAYAG NG MGA MANUNULAT AT ARTISTANG PILIPINO
PARA SA PAGPAPALAYA NG PALESTINA
Tayong nagkakaisang manunulat at artistang Pilipino ay tumitindig kaisa ng mamamayan ng Palestine at ng mundong sumusuporta sa pakikibaka laban sa henosidyo at setler kolonyalismo ng Israel, mula sa lahat ng ating kailugan hanggang sa lahat ng ating karagatan. Mahigpit nating kinokondena ang walang habas na pag-atake at pandarahas ng Israel at mga kasapakat nitong imperyalistang bansa sa mamamayang Palestino na pumaslang at patuloy pang pumapaslang ng libo-libo, kabilang na ang mga sanggol, musmos at bata, at wumawasak sa kabuhayan, kapaligiran, kalikasan, at lupain ng Palestine. Binobomba para paglahuin ang mga paaralan, aklatan, palimbagan, museo, arkibo, at iba pang mga sityo ng panitikan, kultura, kolektibong alaala, at kasaysayang Palestino, kabilang na ang Gaza Central Archive, Rafah Museum, at Great Omari Mosque.
Noong Agosto 2025, idineklara ng Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) na taggutom na sa Gaza Governorate. Hanggang ngayon, Oktubre 2025, patuloy na binobomba ng Israel ang Gaza at marahas na pinipigilan ang pagpasok ng mga sagip-rekurso kabilang na ang mga dala ng Sumud Flotilla. Ayon sa Gaza Press Club, 680,000 Palestino ang pinatay at namatay mula noong Oktubre 2023 hanggang Setyembre 2025. 94% ng mga ospital at 88% ng mga paaralan ang nasira.
Lubos ang galit natin sa pakikipagsabwatan ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas sa Israel at US, kasama ang Germany, sa iba’t ibang proyekto sa militar, agrikultura, turismo, at iba pang larangan. Para sa mga manunulat, iskolar, tagapaglathala, at manggagawa sa industriya ng libro, pinakamalinaw na pagpapahayag ng kultural na pagsuporta sa henosidyo at kolonyal na pangangamkam ng Israel ang paglahok ng Pilipinas sa Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurt Buchmesse) bilang Panauhing Pandangal ngayong Oktubre 2025.
Napatunayan na sa istruktura, programa, at mga pahayag ng FBF na nakakiling ito sa panig ng Israel sa patuloy na henosidyo at paghaharang (blockade) sa Palestine — na layunin nitong burahin ang mga kuwento ng pakikibakang Palestino. Ang FBF ay pinatatakbo rin ng estado ng Germany, na magdiriwang ngayong taon ng ika-60 anibersaryo ng diplomatikong relasyon nila ng Israel. Mula sa ulat ng mga aktibista sa Germany, karahasan at pagpapatahimik ang isinasagot ng estadong Aleman sa anumang anyo ng protesta para sa Palestine.
Ang paglahok ng Pilipinas sa FBF ay pagkakanulo sa panitikang Pilipino na may mahabang tradisyon ng paglalansag at pakikibaka laban sa pasismo at kolonyalismo. Ang ibang mga manunulat ay tila nabulagan na sa papuri at internasyonal na pagkilala sa halip na ituon ang kanilang talino para sa pagtigil ng karahasan at walang humpay na paglabag sa karapatang-pantao ng mga Palestino. Tila nalimot nila na kung magagawa ng mga imperyalista ang henosidyo sa Palestine, napakadali na nila itong gawin sa Pilipinas, lalo na kung ang mga manunulat, artista, at manggagawang pangkultura nito ay hindi pala maaasahang depensahan ang bansa.
Idagdag pa rito ang pagbayad ng limpak-limpak na pera ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas sa Germany para bilhin ang karangalan ng pagiging Panauhing Pandangal, na lubhang nakababahala. Tila pikit-matang lulusong sa baha ng dugo ng mga batang Palestino ang gobyerno at mga kalahok sa FBF habang dito naman sa Pilipinas ay lubog na lubog tayo sa baha ng korapsyon. Naturol ng batang anti-pasistang manunulat na si Jose Rizal ang katotohanan: “Bayan palibhasa’y lupig at sumuko / Sa kapabayaan ng nagturong puno.”
Ang kagyat at tamang tugon sa sitwasyon ay lumahok sa pandaigdigang panawagan na i-Boykot ang Frankfurt Book Fair at ang lahat ng mga institusyon na patuloy na nakikipagsabwatan sa Israel at sumusuporta sa mga krimen nito laban sa sangkatauhan. Hindi dapat hayaang mabura ang mga kuwento ng pag-iral at pakikibaka ng mamamayan ng Palestine, at ito ang papel ng mga manunulat at artista saan mang panig ng mundo sila naroroon. Ang pagboykot ay pagpanig sa mga pinaslang na mga manunulat, makata, artista, peryodista, manggagawang pangkulturang kundi mang patuloy na dinadahas ay napaslang na simula Oktubre 2023 at mula pa sa Nakba ng 1948. Alalahanin natin ang mga makatang tulad nina Refaat Alareer at Hiba Abu Nada, ang mga artist gaya nina Amna Al-Salmi at Ismail Abu Hatab, at ang 248 na mamamahayag na nasawi sa Gaza.
Habang binabaluktot ng Israel at ng mga imperyalista ang naratibo, magpapatuloy ang mapagpalayang paglikha’t pagkukuwento. Hindi tayo mananahimik at makikipagsapakatan sa mga pasista. Walang ibang panawagan kung hindi i-Boykot ang Frankfurt Book Fair! Mula sa lahat ng ating kailugan hanggang sa lahat ng ating karagatan, ang Palestina ay lalaya!
I-BOYKOT ANG FRANKFURT BOOKFAIR!
LABANAN ANG HENOSIDYO!
PALAYAIN ANG PALESTINE!
*****
FOR THE FREEDOM OF PALESTINE:
A STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY FROM WRITERS AND ARTISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES
We, writers and artists of the Philippines stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and with the many countries of the world in the fight against genocide and the settler-colonialism of Israel, from all our rivers to all our seas. We condemn in no uncertain terms the unending attacks and atrocities on Palestine perpetrated by Israel and its imperialist enablers that continue to murder thousands, including innocents such as infants and children, and eradicate livelihoods, the environment, the ecology, and the very literal land of Palestine; that continue to bomb schools, libraries, printers, museums, archives, and other centers of literature, culture, collective memory, and Palestinian history, including the Gaza Central Archive, Rafah Museum, and the Great Omari Mosque.
In August 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared that the Gaza Governate is in a state of famine. Until today, October 2025, Israel continues to bomb Gaza and block the entry of much-needed emergency aid including the supplies carried recently by the Sumud Flotilla. According to the Gaza Press Club, 680,000 Palestinians have died from October 2023 to September 2025. Since October 2023, 94% of hospitals and 88% of schools in Gaza have been razed.
We are angered by the collusion and cooperation between the Philippine government and Israel, along with the United States and Germany, in various projects in the military, agriculture, tourism, and other industries. For writers, scholars, publishers, and workers in the book industry, the clearest expression of cultural support to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and its colonial seizure of Palestinian land is the Philippines’s participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurt Buchmesse) as Guest of Honour this October 2025.
The Frankfurt Book Fair has proven as a matter of fact in its structuring, programming, and public statements, that it is biased on the side of Israel on the ongoing genocide and blockade of Palestine — that it seeks to erase the many stories of the Palestinian struggle for existence. The FBF is operated by the German state, that is celebrating its 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Israel this year. On-the-ground reports from activists in Germany say that the German state’s response to any form of protest supportive of Palestine has been nothing short of violence and censorship.
The Philippines’s participation at the FBF betrays Philippine literature’s long tradition of struggle against and dismantling of fascism and colonialism. It seems the FBF delegates have been blinded by praise and the promise of global recognition instead of focusing their efforts against the unending violence of Israel and its violations of the human rights of Palestinians. They seem to have forgotten that if imperialists are allowed to perpetrate genocide on Palestine, it will make it easier for them to perpetrate the same on the Philippines, especially when writers, artists, and cultural workers cannot be depended upon to defend the country.
Add to that the expense of hundreds of millions of pesos paid by the Philippine government to Germany to purchase the honour of being Guest of Honour, the situation truly is alarming. It is as if the government and the FBF delegates seek to tread waist-deep into the tides of blood of Palestinian children with their eyes shut tight as the Philippines remains waist-deep in its own flood of corruption. The young antifascist novelist Jose Rizal said it best: “The Nation defeated, yielded / Through its leaders who’ve neglected.”
The most immediate and principled response to this situation is to join the international call to Boycott the Frankfurt Book Fair, and all the other many institutions that continue to collaborate with Israel and support its crimes against humanity. The erasure of the many stories of the Palestinian struggle for existence should not be allowed, and it is the duty and responsibility of writers and artists all over the world to assure that these stories will never be erased, will always be heard. To heed the call of the boycott is to side with the hundreds of murdered writers, artists, journalists, and cultural workers, who continue to be targets of Israeli acts of violence since October 2023 and also since the first Nakba of 1948. Let us remember poets like Refaat Alareer and Hiba Abu Nada, artists such as Amna Al-Salmi and Ismail Abu Hatab, and all the 248 journalists murdered in Gaza.
As Israel and its imperialist allies continue to twist the narrative, our liberatory authoring and storytelling will continue. We will not be silent nor will we collude or cooperate with fascists. There is no other option, no other call to action but to Boycott the Frankfurt Book Fair. From all our rivers to all our seas, Palestine will be free!ylo
BOYCOTT FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR!
FIGHT GENOCIDE!
FREE PALESTINE!
Please sign the statement here: tinyurl.com/phboycottfbf
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