PALESTINA. Defend life, defend the land.

Round table with:

• Ali Awad, from Youth of Sumud.
• Rawan Raed, from Ikhila Association.
• Subhash Kattel, from War Resisters' International, WRI.

December 3, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.,

in the auditorium of the Rector Peset University Residence Hall.

St. NIcholas Square, 4. 46001 València.

Conveners:

• MOC-Valeǹcia (Alternativa Antimilitarista-MOC Moviment d'Objeció de Consciència)
• Internacional de Resistents a la Guerra, IRG (World Resisters' International, WRI)
• Col·legi Major Rector Peset. Universitat de València.
• Assemblea Popular València Contra les Guerres.
• Confederació General del Treball, CGT-PV.
• Plataforma de Sanitarios con Palestina de la Comunidad Valenciana.
• Xarxa Universitària per Palestina - Valeǹcia.
• Centre Delàs d'Estudis per la Pau.
• Boicot Desinversions i Sancions a Israel, BDS - País Valencià.
• Asociación de Ayuda a las Mujeres y Menores Ananda Maitreya.
• Confederació Nacional del Treball, CNT-València.
• Amnistia Internacional - València.
• Intersindical Valenciana.

Why another talk about Palestine?

A month and a half ago, the so-called “Peace Plan for Gaza,” imposed by US President Donald Trump, was solemnly signed in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. But the genocide against the Palestinian people has not ended. 318 people have been killed by the Israeli army since the signing of this “agreement”. The situation in Gaza and the West Bank remains far from peace and justice, under extremely violent Israeli militarism, where the killings, the destruction, the blockade, the apartheid, the military occupation, and the ethnic cleansing continue. There is no dignified future for the Palestinian people with this plan. Palestinian social organisations are striving to resist the occupation and improve the harsh living conditions of the population. They do not ask for freedom, they proclaim it, and they will not stop until Palestine will be free.

The global mobilisation against genocide in Gaza and the West Bank has been an example of solidarity and has denounced many instances of complicity with the Zionist state, but it is still insufficient to stop the Israeli colonial project. We must seek mechanisms of cooperation and mutual aid that support the Palestinian resistance and allow us to resist the growing militarism we suffer in Europe and the rest of the world.

We have three peace activists, two from the West Bank and one from Nepal, who will share their experiences with us. Ali Awad, Rawan Raed, and Subhash Kattel are participating in the International War Resisters' Meeting “Disarm Militarism: Resist War, Build Peace”, from November 27 to 29, 2025, in Barcelona, a meeting point for a broad and diverse network of anti-militarist and pacifist activists from around the world. These individuals and their groups are trying to put a stop to a world in rearmament, where leaders are increasing military spending, reducing resources for vital social and ecological needs, and thus promoting the death, destruction, and authoritarianism produced by more than fifty ongoing wars.

War Resisters' International (WRI) is an international pacifist and anti-militarist organisation created in 1921 with members and affiliated organisations in some thirty countries. Its founding declaration states: "War is a crime against humanity. Therefore, I pledge not to support any kind of war and to fight for the elimination of all causes of war." It works to support groups and organisations that confront militarism, war, and violence in their countries and to coordinate their efforts.

Ali Awad is a Palestinian human rights defender, storyteller, and journalist from the village of Tuba in Masafer Yatta. He co-founded Youth of Sumud and coordinates projects to repair caves for families displaced from their land. For years, he has organised school transportation for children, even after settlers burned his car in January 2025. His work includes fieldwork, legal assistance to communities at risk, and writing articles for international media outlets. His latest article on his family's forced expulsion was published by the New York Times. 

Rawan Raed is a Palestinian youth and community activist. She participates in the Ikhilia Association, a grass roots initiative that resists colonial occupation in the Jordan Valley, and faces extreme colonial harassment and threats to their lives and existence on a daily basis. She also seeks to strengthen the resilience of families and communities through agricultural, educational, and political activities. She personally takes part in these activities whenever possible. Beyond fieldwork, she has participated in discussions with government bodies to defend women's rights, particularly in relation to the challenges they face in accessing education under occupation. She has focused on amplifying local voices, documenting lived experiences, and linking them to broader debates on human rights. By joining this meeting in Barcelona, she wishes to share the experiences and perspectives of her local struggle, as well as the Palestinian struggle in general. She also wants to learn from the various struggles for justice around the world and contribute ideas for collective advocacy and solidarity that promote peace, equality, and human dignity.

Subhash Kattel, from Nepal, has been a member of the executive committee of War Resisters' International since 2014. Subhash is the national coordinator of Friends Peace Teams Asia West Pacific, president of Child Welfare Nepal, a member of other groups dedicated to peace, nonviolence, and social justice, one of the driving forces behind the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) in Nepal since 2008, a facilitator of training in cultures of peace and nonviolence, and part of Nepal's largest nonviolent social movement for agrarian reform and land distribution. He has coordinated this tour of Palestinian activists.

• Poster to download (pdf, medium quality colour, 2,7 MB).
• Simplified poster, for download (pdf, black and white, 478kB).