We are Acción Palestina Chiapas, a group of people who came together almost two years ago after the beginning of this phase of the genocide in Gaza, which began on October 7th, 2023.
First, we want to thank the Diocese of San Cristóbal for convening this pilgrimage for peace and against the genocide in Palestine. We also thank Father Bartolomé for giving us this space and remember Father Marcelo, who always stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people and supported us on many occasions.
We want to reflect a little on what genocide means. Genocide is defined as the destruction or the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. It is known as “the worst of all crimes.” It is a well-known crime in the Americas, with the extermination of the continent’s indigenous peoples by European colonizers, and a crime that is being repeated today in Gaza against the Palestinian indigenous people by the Zionist settlers of the State of Israel.
Genocide can manifest itself in the killing of members of a group, inflicting serious physical or mental injury on members of the group, and subjecting the group to living conditions that could lead to its destruction.
Since October 7th, 2023, the State of Israel has murdered more than 65,000 people in the Gaza Strip, an area of 365 km2, or 200 times smaller than Chiapas, where more than two million people live. More than 10,000 people are missing and more than 165,000 have been injured.
We want to emphasize the impact on children. More than 20,000 have been killed, dozens have died from starvation. Gaza has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world. Ten children lose a leg or an arm every day. Everyone is traumatized after nearly two years of nonstop genocide. More than 40,000 children have lost one or both parents.
Ninety percent of the population has been displaced, and Israel barely allows humanitarian aid in, resulting in the deaths from starvation of more than 400 people.
This is a deliberate attempt by the State of Israel to erase the present and future of Palestine. It will take decades and generations to recover from the psychological trauma of what is happening.
On September 16th, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory declared that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip. Dozens of countries and hundreds of NGOs, even within Israel, concur with its verdict.
For centuries, before the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived side by side in Palestine, and the Catholic population of Palestine also suffers from genocide.
• There are more than 80,000 Catholics in Palestine. They are one of the oldest Catholic communities in the world.
• Its center is the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza.
• This church has been an important education center and a refuge for more than 700 people.
• Pope Francis phoned the church every night since the beginning of the genocide.
• Francis condemned Israel’s cruelty in Gaza and called for an investigation into the genocide allegations.
• On December 16th, 2023, Nahida Khalil Anton, a 70-year-old Palestinian Catholic mother of seven and grandmother of 20, and her 50-year-old daughter, Samar Kamal Anton, were executed by the Israeli army while attending Mass at the church. Nahida was shot three times on her way to the bathroom by an Israeli sniper. Her daughter, Samar, was shot in the head as she tried to help her mother. An Israeli tank later destroyed much of the church.
• The church was bombed again on July 17th, 2025, killing four more people.
• In September 2025, Pope Leo XIV demanded a ceasefire and respect for international law.
Despite all this, Israel is trying to whitewash its image. One of these attempts is manifested here in Chiapas through an organization called Heroes for Life, or Warriors Without Borders in its original Hebrew name. They come as “volunteers,” offering to paint schools and teach math and English. The organization was founded by two high-ranking Israeli military officers and receives government funding. Most of the so-called volunteers are former combatants, and we find it outrageous that potential accomplices of genocide and murderers of children have access to our schools. We ask parents and teachers to be vigilant and report the presence of these people in our schools.
Our group will continue to denounce the genocide taking place in Gaza. We invite you to sign the petition to sever relations with Israel and to participate in the campaign to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel.
Again, we thank the Diocese for convening this pilgrimage today, hoping that this solidarity with the Palestinian people will continue until there is a true and just peace in Palestine that will come with a ceasefire and the end of the occupation.
Original article by Acción Palestina Chiapas.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.