What does the Palestinian solidarity movement in Mexico look like, and how did it get started?

Aracely Cortés-Galán: Support for Palestine has been centered around the Coordinadora de Solidaridad con Palestina, CORSOPAL, a group working to end Israel’s occupation of Palestine and help Palestine become an independent state.

I became a student activist in 1985 after the government in Mexico gave a horribly inadequate response to a major earthquake. The only silver lining: The government’s poor response sparked all sorts of militant action. From the student movement, I graduated to socialism and internationalism. I worked on solidarity with Cuba and in opposition to the Gulf War and learned that Israel was intervening on the wrong side of struggles in South Africa, Argentina, and many other parts of the world. And that road led me, and many others, to Palestine. CORSOPAL started up in 2000.

After the events of October 7 and the ensuing decimation of the Palestinian people and the leveling of Gaza, the movement caught fire. The Palestinian cause has generated empathy because what happens in Palestine in one way or another reflects the different forms of oppression that exist in the world.

“Long live Zapata, hero of the Mexican revolution, 1915. Long live Abd al Kader al Husseini, hero of the Palestinian revolution, 1948.” Artist, Burhan Karkoutly, The Palestine Poster Project Archives

In the United States, a powerful pro-Israel lobby has kept US government policy totally in Israel’s corner. Who is supporting Israel in Mexico?

Three kinds of groups. First, those with direct connections to the Israeli Embassy. These include private companies doing business in Israel, but also, for the last 40 years, the previous PRI and PAN governments that bought arms from Israel and received military training and support to deal with narco-trafficking and security issues.

In the US, many Jewish Americans have joined the Palestine solidarity movement. Is that true in Mexico too?

After World War II, Mexico saw an influx of Jewish refugees. Jewish politics have changed, though; few of their grandchildren’s generation tend to be progressive. But the mayor of Mexico City and now our next president, Claudia Scheinbaum, rates as one of them. She issued a strong solidarity statement several years before the current conflict.

Mexico has only a tiny Muslim population. Because Indigenous people have also suffered repression, violence, and the theft of their land, the Coordinadora has supporters in Oaxaca and among the Zapatistas. Our main base of support has come from the big cities and some labor organizations, like the electrical workers union. Today, students have especially stepped forward.

Already back in October 2021, the Mexican government issued a strong statement before the UN Security Council condemning Israeli settlements in Gaza and human rights violations against Palestinians. What more should the Mexican government do?

Today, besides those points, activists demand that the government break relations with the occupying state. That hasn’t been done yet. We also speak out for a ceasefire. We want Mexico to join other nations in recognizing Palestine as a free, sovereign, independent state. That also has not been done, although there is a Palestinian Embassy in Mexico City.

Pro-Palestine activists demanded that rather than “observer status,” which they have now, Palestine should be admitted as a full member of the UN. It's confusing — even though AMLO doesn't recognized the sovereign state of Palestine yet, he does support full UN membership — which would be tantamount to recognizing Palestine as a state!

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