By Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, Dec 23: Activist group Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) have issued a robust statement expressing their solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination. SFT while reiterating its commitment to nonviolence, mourned the lives lost due to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza strip.
The activist group stated, “Since October 7th, the world’s eyes have been on Palestine, but Israel’s settler colonial violence against the Palestinian people began long before this”.
The irreversible violence inflicted upon the Palestinian community encompasses the devastating obliteration of complete families and lineages, constituting an act of genocide. Within the span of the past eleven weeks, the toll of Palestinians lost to the violence perpetrated by Israel has surged, eclipsing 20,000 lives, among them more than 8,000 innocent children. Over 50,000 individuals from the Palestinian populace have sustained injuries, while numerous others endure entrapment beneath the debris.”
SFT continued their condemnation, stating, “Israel’s blockade on Palestine stands as a collective punishment, severely impacting millions of Palestinians by severing essential provisions such as water, food, fuel, medical assistance, and electricity. This has precipitated a dire humanitarian crisis of alarming proportions.”
The activist group that advocates complete independence for Tibet, drew parallels between the plight of the Tibetan people and the Palestinian struggle, citing generations of genocide, displacement, and colonial violence faced by both communities. The statement stressed the importance of advocating for the voices demanding an immediate and lasting ceasefire in the region, as Israel and China employ similar tactics of colonisation in Palestine and Tibet.
The document referenced a 2002 proposal by China’s Ethnic Affairs Commissioner, suggesting the migration of 50 million Han Chinese to Tibet, drew inspiration from Israel’s management of West Bank settlers as a means to address perceived issues of “terrorist and extremist activities,” ethnic and religious differences, and resource demands.
SFT also highlighted the destruction of religious sites in both regions, citing Israel’s targeting of historic churches and mosques in Gaza and China’s demolition of revered Tibetan religious sites like Larung Gar, the world’s largest Buddhist academy. Moreover, the statement addressed the renaming of ancient Palestinian places by Israel like Al-Lydd to Lod and the An-Naqab Desert to the Negev Desert and the alteration of the term “Tibet” into “Xizang” by China, both actions seen as erasing cultural identities.
The organization emphasised the parallel policies of preventing refugees from returning, noting Israel’s restrictions on Palestinian refugees and China’s limitations on Tibetan refugees from going back to Tibet. SFT underscored the possibility that older generations of Tibetan and Palestinian individuals might pass away in exile, holding onto memories of homes they might never be able to return to.
SFT concluded by highlighting the Chinese government’s observations of international inaction towards Israel’s actions in Palestine, seeing it as a signal that similar tactics could be utilised to continue the occupation in Tibet, contingent on the use of specific narratives and justifications.
9 Responses
Those who are guilty of genocide, ethnic cleaning and war crimes always seek to protect themselves by blaming those who are exposing their unforgivable crimes. The Jewish State is a murderous regime much like the Chinese communist regime in Beijing. It has been waging war of conquest ever since it was planted on historical Palestinian land by the British imperialists. The regime went on a spree of murderous campaigns against the Palestinians, Hezbollah, Jordan, Egypt and Syria. It is itching to drop the nuclear bomb on Iran! It attempted many times to incriminate Iran about making nuclear bomb as a pretext to attack it!!! It occupied Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and Golan heights from Syria! Golan Heights is still under Israeli occupation. With US protection and limitless flow of US tax payers money to its military campaigns, it became the biggest bully in the Middle East! It has murdered tens and thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese and continues to be a blood-thirsty rogue State. It doesn’t care two hoots about the lives of Palestinians or Lebanese or any other neighbouring Arab people because it is a APARTHEID REGIME! The world despised the apartheid regime in South Africa but endorses Israeli apartheid against Palestinians! The Israeli population never sees Palestinians while the Palestinians never meet Israelis except the Israeli police and the Israeli planes in the sky which drop 2000 ton bombs on them! They are divided by mighty walls much higher and thicker than the Great Wall of China between the two peoples! When people speak up against the apartheid evils of the regime, they EQUATE IT WITH ANTI-SEMITISM!!! This is how they shut down any criticism of the regime! The Chinese communist regime is another murderous regime that enslaves the people of China and occupied peoples like the Tibetans. It has waged war since its coming to power in 1949. It invaded, East Turkistan, India, Vietnam, Russia, South China Sea and illegally invaded and occupied Tibet. 1.2 million Tibetans have been murdered! 6000 thousand monasteries and libraries: the repository of Tibet’s priceless cultural heritage have been reduced to rubble and pillaged the invaluable contents and burned the holy scriptures! When they are criticised for their genocidal vandalism and murderous rampage, they call it ANTI-CHINA BIAS! This is how they deny irrefutable crimes by using the same tactic like the Zionists accusing their detractors of anti-Semitism!
This is an insult to human intelligence! Nobody is against the Jewish people or the Chinese people but against the psychopathic regimes of Netanyahu and Xi Jinping! The present bunch of far right fanatics in Israel are hell-bend to drive the people of Gaza out into the Sinai desert. Netanyahu pledged that he will reduce Gaza to rubble and now Gaza is nothing but rubble and 80% of the homes are destroyed and 1% of the population slaughtered! The latest statistics is 21,935 Palestinians murdered and another 800 missing- lying under the rubble! Out of this 10,000 are innocent babies and children of Palestine! The whole war is to save the political life of Netanyahu who is accused of corruption and fraudulent dealings which is going to lead him to imprisonment. In order to avoid going to jail, he is carrying out this senseless and murderous war of total annihilation of an entire people and their life and livelihood! While the innocent Palestinians are bombed day and night for almost three months, the IDF is also paying a very high price. The latest number of IDF personnel killed in combat is 489! It is also important to note that Hamas was in fact the brain child of Netanyahu to divide the Palestinians! Like all colonial powers, Netanyahu bank rolled Hamas to the tune of one billion dollars in order to defy and reject the authority of the Mohammad Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. This even caused a civil war which then Netanyahu peddled as “we have no partners for peace”. In other words, there is no United front to decide the Palestinian issue!!! IT WAS A BIG LIE OF COURSE. HE HAD NO INTENTION FOR A PALESTINIAN STATE AT ALL. HE AND HIS THUGGISH COLONIALISTS DIDN’T WANT PALESTINIANS AS THEIR NEIGHBOURS! THEY WANT ONLY ONE STATE WITH THE COMPLETE OCCUPATION OF GAZA AND WEST BANK! This came to light inadvertently just recently when Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to Britain said in an interview, “we don’t want them as our neighbours” when the journalist asked if two state was the final solution! The disingenuous narrative peddled for a long long time by the Israelis is a total deception! This ruse of “Palestinians rejected every peace proposal” is another fabrication by the Zionist State. Palestinians want the Gaza as per prior to 1967 border but the Israelis are not prepared to part with Gaza region which is rich in natural resources! I do not believe Amay Malu is a Tibetan. It’s an Israeli imposter who is trying to defend the indefensible. Tibetans have a choice. If Israel gets away with genocide in Palestine, this will send a green signal to communist China that THEY CAN DO THE SAME IN OCCUPIED TIBET! IF ISRAEL SUCCEEDS IN EXPELLING IN ALL 2.5 MILLION PALESTINIANS FROM THEIR NATIVE LAND, THE CHINESE CAN DO THE SAME TO EXPEL TIBETANS FROM THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY! A Chinese woman in Lhasa exhorted the Chinese authorities to expel all Tibetans from Lhasa already three years ago if your memory doesn’t fail you! She was made to apologise but she didn’t apologise to the Tibetans!!! If Israel succeeds in denying Palestinians their right to return to their homeland after they fled their country owing to occupation and oppression, this will give a green signal to communist China that those who have fled Tibet owing to Chinese oppression and persecution will be denied the right to return to Tibet! THE SUPPRESSION AND OPPRESSION OF ONE GROUP OF HUMAN BEINGS IS IN FACT THE SUPPRESSION AND OPPRESSION OF ENTIRE HUMANITY!!!
I agree with SFT’s comparison between Tibet and Palestine when it comes to struggle for “independent, self-determination”; however, there was no mention of SFT’s position on ACTIONS taken by Hamas led Palestinian is disappointing. Palestinian have not once blamed what Hamas did. As a Tibetan, I do not approve/support any Tibetan taking Actions (kidnaping women and children, rape, murdering a man in front of his 10 years old son to name few) against China in a way Hamas did against Israeli. Unlike Tibet issue, Palestine’s oppressor Israel wants (China does not) to negotiate, resolve dispute etc.
SFT came out in public to express their stand on Palestine issue as a result of what’s been happening since 7th Oct 2023. My question is, where does SFT stand on Hamas action? Do you agree with Hamas?
I sympathise for Palestinian and support for two state solution.
This is great. The ability to see our freedom and suffering as interconnected to others’ really underlines why people have historically stood in solidarity with movements fighting for self-determination. Solidarity is why people stood for an end to apartheid in South Africa, civil rights in America, freedom in East Timor, even human rights in China. How can the Tibet movement appeal to the moral consciousness of the international community if we stay silent about other genocides at the same time.
I stand with Israel, no nation should have to endure an enemy that wants its annihilation and terror. Please don’t confound the Palestinian issue with our Tibetan issue, the two are not the same. If you’re unsure, then know that CCP and Putin supports the Hamas side so that should give you a clue.
The world is witnessing one the most brutal occupation and savage “war” that is perpetrated by the Zionist Israeli Government. Zionists were Jewish refugees discarded by the racist Europeans after the Holocaust. When Hitler demanded all the Jews to be expelled from their countries most countries including Switzerland threw out their Jewish population except Bulgaria a country in the Balkans! The European racism and planting of the Zionists regime in the land of Palestine was the original sin of the present tragedy. The newly arrived Zionists exhibited extreme racism despite the fact that their fellow Jews were slaughtered by Adolf Hitler’s supremacist ideology. They adopted imperialist attitude of looking down on the Palestinians. This is a common trait of all imperialists. The Chinese communists looked down on the Tibetans as extremely uncivilised (ཆེས་ཀླ་ཀློ་, extremely dark -(ཆེས་མུན་ནག་)extremely barbaric (ཆེས་གདུག་རྩུབ) to dehumanise the Tibetan people. They fabricated a story that Tibetans practised slavery and that the Dalai Lama was a “serf-owner”. They also fabricated fables of the Dalai Lama drinking blood of his victims in the skull cups (ཀ་པ་ལ་) which are in fact Tantric Buddhist ritual offering bowls! The Tantric practise of femur buckles (རྐང་གླིང་) and skulls are all to remind the practitioners of the impermanent nature of themselves. These are the tactics of imperialists of all shades to dehumanise and delegitimise their victims. The first Zionist leader Golda Meir of Israel said, “Palestine do not exist”. Her successor, Prime Minister Levy Eshkol said, “what are Palestinians? When I came here to Palestine there were 250 thousand non-jews, namely Arabs and bedouins. It was a desert, more than underdeveloped. Nothing”!
Prime Minister Menachem Begin called Palestinians- two legged beasts”.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called them – “Grass hoppers who could be crushed”. These are language of the Head of State of Israel”!!!
The Israeli defence minister recently called Palestinians “human animals”! Netanyahu invoked Biblical eternal enemy of Israel known as Amalek and equated Palestinians with the Amalek and insinuated Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to slaughter Palestinian women and children without mercy! The IDFs killing of three Israeli prisoners demonstrate the callous treatment of civilian population by shooting unarmed, bare chested, white flag bearing Israeli prisoners who asked for help and spoke in Hebrew! They were still murdered by their own soldiers! Another three elderly prisoners were “found dead” the IDF claimed but I suspect they were also killed by them in the same way as they did the previous ones! The policy of the IDF in occupied Gaza and West Bank is, “shoot anything that moves” according to an ex-Israeli sniper who is now a peace maker in Israel. That is why they used dumb bombs to fulfil their goal of maximum damage to human life. It’s their policy to exterminate the Palestinians as a people and nation so there will be no one to contest the ownership of Palestine! The Chinese communist Party does exactly the same to the Tibetan people in order to legitimise their illegal occupation and subjugation of Tibet! They have called the Dalai Lama- “a devil with human head”! They have consistently called him a “separatist” in order to legitimise their occupation despite the fact that The Dalai Lama has been calling for genuine autonomy for the last twenty years! It’s a deliberate tactic to give the impression that Tibet belongs to them and the Dalai Lama is trying to wrest Tibet away from them!!! The fact of the matter is Tibet was never part of China at any time in its entire history! This is supported by history and modern Tibetan historians like Shakabpa Wangchuk Dedan, (POLITICAL HISTORY OF TIBET) Chinese scholar Prof Lui Han Chen and Russian scholar have written about the independence of Tibet. Prof Lui Chen wrote: (TIBET WAS NEVER PART OF CHINA) in mandarin and Russian scholar SL Kuzmin’s has written – (HIDDEN TIBET: History of independence and occupation). In early 1960’s many young Tibetans were castrated in order to exterminate the Tibetan population while in the 1980s and 90s thousands of Tibetan women were forced to abort their child and many had their reproductive organs removed or their Fallopian tubes tied up without their consent! I know an Amdo gentleman by the name of Lekshe (ཨ་མདོ་ལེགས་བཤད་) who was castrated by the Chinese communists but managed to escape into exile. He became the manager of the ration donated by different donors like the US and Catholic organisations to Tibetan refugees in Mussoorie. He was called the ཕོག་དཔོན་ལགས་ All leading Tibetan lamas, chieftains and eminent persons were liquidated. The extermination of the Tibetan race is the ultimate goal of the Chinese communist party just as the extermination of the Palestinian people is the coveted goal of the Zionist leadership headed by the butcher of Gaza- Netanyahu.
Today, we are witnessing the most brutal genocide of a people in front of our own eyes! Among the twenty thousand four hundred people known to have been murdered by the IDF and another few thousand buried under the rubble, seven thousand are innocent children! No civilised people would tolerate such barbarism perpetrated by a people using the Holocaust card to legitimise their murderous rampage had it not been for the western Government’s and especially President Joe Biden administration’s acquiescence to the deliberate and calculate extermination of the Gaza Palestinians. This act of actively participating in murder of innocent children and women in the thousands has closed the curtains for the US claim of moral authority in the eyes of every human being who has empathy for other fellow human beings! America cannot preach any more! It has given succour to totalitarian regimes who murder their citizens by the millions such as the CCP. They will feel vindicated in their criticism of western accusation of human rights abuse in their country as hypocrisy and an instrument of interfering in their country’s affairs! The rules of protecting civilians in a conflict have been turned on its head by the Zionist regime and the much vaunted international rule of law has been well and truly buried under the rubbles of Gaza! Netanyahu, the butcher of Gaza has weaponised starvation of the desperate population while bulldozing their homes to rubble! He also weaponised disease to further kill the population to empty Gaza of Palestinian inhabitants. While their lives are shattered and their homes and limbs are blown to bits in this most dastardly “war” waged by a racist and supremacist fascist regime supported and bankrolled by President Joe Biden’s regime, the Palestinians lives are snuffed out and with the world aghast at the US governments craven subservience to Israel has also snuffed out the sheen the America enjoyed until now. The era of American power and glory as bright as the sun and hope of all oppressed peoples of the world as their saviour is gone!!! Today, America is more of a pariah state along with Israel than anything else. It’s moral standing has been greatly diminished and is now it is in throes of decay. I would plead Senator Bernie Sanders to stand for the Democratic candidate by challenging President Joe Biden to be the nominee. If President Joe Biden chooses to run for the Presidency, he is more than likely to lose (because of age factor and alienating the young people who are against genocide) to Trump who in all probability will be the Republican Presidential nominee. If Trump again wins the Presidency, that will truly be the end of America!
This information. She leaves me speechless. Not a word about the Hamas massacre, not a word about Israel’s right to self-defense, but an equalization of Israel’s policy with that of China. The fate of the Tibetans is equated with that of the Palestinians.
These views demonstrate a lack of history. Of course, one can have different opinions about Israel’s settlement policy and one can sharply criticize Israeli policy, but for me this is a clear reversal of perpetrator and victim.
For 2000 years, Jews have been persecuted, massacred and made to scapegoat for so many things. Millions of Jews were executed, murdered and gassed during World War II because they are Jews. Since 1948 their refuge has become Israel and the birth of this new state was not easy. But with Israel, the Jewish population has once again had a home and security. This has been at risk since October 7, 2023.
If this equation is taken further, then there is nothing to say against Tibetans also being allowed to carry out a massacre against the Chinese; that would be sheer madness and was certainly not considered that way. The suffering that the Palestinian population now has to endure is indescribable, but Hamas’ policy is precisely to want to emerge stronger from the suffering of its own people, which they consciously caused themselves through the massacre and the massive rocket attacks on Israel. I’m interested in how this discussion basically goes among the Tibetans in exile. What perspective is there here? I am very affected by the SFT’s attitude and do not hope that this will be the “new” policy in the Tibet movement.
I’m sorry you have to read all this nonsense spewed out by some fellow Tibetans who have been educated in those same prestigious universities whether in US, Europe or India that display outright antisemitism. Please know that not all Tibetans share those thoughts. Fortunately or unfortunately many of us have not had the privilege of studying in those universities and we have been spared the brainwashing by those elitist that serve a globalist agenda.
Don’t mind organisations like SFT because they have to toe certain politically correct lines or be cancelled. And they have to hobnob with the likes of Rashida Tlaib, AOC, Ilhan Omar etc.
There are many of us who understand what’s going on and level of deception and falsehoods that are propagated at all levels. It will take time to dismantle but it will surely happen. I’m not saying Israel is perfect but it has the right to exist just as Tibetans have the right to their existence and not be annihilated by communist China. What is Israel to do when they reject every peace proposal. Palestine does not want a solution they want the annihilation of Jews. We have been fooled and made to believe that Israel is the problem but many of us know better now.
I have tremendous respect for Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas. Very few have such courage and wisdom.
At least Palestinians are fighting, sacrificing their lives and suffering immensely for their country. On the contrary here in Dasa, our mentally poor leaders (unable to fight/oppose China) engage in fighting other Tibetan leaders, or deliberately create an environment of confusion, divide,doubt or suspense. To hide their own incapabilities, they bring up contents to divert mass attention (to secure their seats/posts by default).
Palestines are just poor people. Help them. Israel has more nuclear weapons. West is supporting the powerful and strong. We Tibetans Support the weak