Daranee Teng of Denver did not have to survive a war to experience colonialism and the generational trauma caused by it.
Teng’s great-grandmother, Lim Cher Liang, grew up in 20th century Indonesia, where Dutch colonizers enslaved and exploited people for centuries. Around 1912, just as the Indonesian nationalism movement was beginning to grow, she escaped to Guangdong Province in southeastern China. She adopted a Chinese name, eventually got married and had a family there.
Lim Cher Liang’s Indonesian birth name is lost to history, but she ensured her experience was not, passing down her stories of resilience in the face of oppression and discrimination to Teng’s grandmother, mother and eventually to her.
“I think it’s important not to remove ourselves from our ancestors…and learn from the people who came before us,” Teng said.
It’s why Teng and the Shoes Off Collective, a new organization of Colorado’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community members, are standing in solidarity with Palestinians amid the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“We can see so many of our own families’ histories and experiences reflected in the Middle East,” members of the Collective explained in a Nov. 16 letter demanding that Colorado’s Congressional lawmakers call for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian war and an end to U.S. military aid for Israel in Israel.
“We not only fear that we are witnessing a genocide in Gaza, but that the United States is complicit in this massacre. It is crucial that we, as Americans, stand for peace, diplomacy, and the protection of human rights.”
The letter was also signed by over 200 AANHPI community members, some of whom reiterated their concerns with four Democratic congresspeople: Diana Degette, Yadira Caraveo, Brittany Petersen and Jason Crow. Rep. Joe Neguse did not respond to the organization’s request for a meeting, officials said.
DeGette and Crow each released statements in December about increasing humanitarian aid and protecting civilian lives, but they stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.
"We have clearly communicated our concerns, so it is deeply disappointing to see the lack of movement,” said Joie Ha, member of the Shoes Off Collective.
The conflict began on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage. Israel’s military retaliated in a series of brutal air, sea and ground offensives. According to a report from Al Jazeera, more than 26,000 Gazans have been killed and more than 64,000 injured. About 1.7 million people now live in refugee camps. The Associated Press is reporting that about half of all buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
As the conflict has dragged on, public sentiment has been divided. Many around the world are calling for a ceasefire and are protesting, boycotting companies that are supporting Israel, and promoting Palestinian voices on social media.
Those who are supporting Israel have also held protests, and are claiming that criticisms against Israel are anti-semitic.
Locally, hundreds attended an Aurora City Council meeting in October when the city council passed a resolution condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel.
The Shoes Off Collective has also organized several local events to highlight Palestinian culture. They are working with several organizations such as the Islamic Center of Aurora, Al Bireh Society and the Badan Collective to host workshops on Palestinian embroidery, called tatreez. The workshops are sold out, but they are also planning to hold a lecture series with Palestinian experts.
“Even if a person has not been directly impacted by colonization, our tax dollars are going towards funding a genocide,” Teng said.
‘We are connected in this moment’
Neal Walia’s grandfather lived in Himachal Pradesh, a province in northern India that was once home to Muslims, Sihks and Hindus. In August 1947, after 300 years of British rule, India was partitioned into two separate nation-states: Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, forcing millions of people to uproot their families and relocate, and causing communities that had coexisted for centuries to spiral into sectarian violence.
Some, like Walia’s grandfather, chose not to leave, knowing that they could be targeted by religious extremists.
Walia’s grandfather and his friends made a secret pact to protect one another. They hid Muslim friends in their basements whenever there were riots. They saved many, but they also lost friends and family to violence.
“These stories have been passed down to my parents and then to me, my sister, and my cousins,” Walia said. “[They] very much shape my values of building solidarity and standing with people and communities that are different from my own.”
Cultural and historical understanding are not the only things connecting people to Palestinians. They are also united by common incidents of racism and hate crimes — a trend that often repeats itself during international tragedies.
Walia was 13 when, on Sept. 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda carried out the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, a series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Walia isn’t Muslim, nor is he Arab, but he was the target of racist sentiments, some from people he considered friends.
“I’ve been called every derogatory slur you can think of, from ‘terrorist’ to names I won’t say out loud,” he said.
The number of anti-Muslim hate crimes increased from 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001 across the country, according to Human Rights Watch. From 2001 to 2015, federal agencies have investigated over 800 incidents of violence, threats, vandalism and arson against Arab-Americans, Muslims, Sikhs, South-Asian Americans and other individuals perceived to be of Middle Eastern origin
The same hate crimes and discrimination seen after 9/11 is being repeated in the United States today.
A week after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, a 71-year-old Illinois landlord fatally stabbed a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and injured his mother. The man told police he was upset over the Israel-Hamas war and attacked them.
In another suspected hate crime, three 20-year-old Palestinian college students were injured in a shooting. Police said that the three college students were speaking in a mix of English and Arabic, and two of them were also wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, when they were shot.
“We are connected to this moment,” Walia said. “Whether it’s Palestine, Iraq, India, a lot of us who live here go through these shared experiences of when any of our countries are put into positions like this.”
What’s happening now?
On Jan. 11, 2024, South Africa formally accused Israel of committing genocide at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, the Associated Press reported. On Jan. 26, the court ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but the panel stopped short of ordering Jerusalem to end the military offensive that has laid waste to the Palestinian enclave.
Still the court’s half-dozen orders will be difficult to achieve without some sort of cease-fire or pause in the fighting.
Teng said that South Africa’s actions are a powerful statement, and an example of how people from historically marginalized communities should help fight for “collective liberation.”
“Some of us were taught to keep our heads down and mind our own business,” Teng said. “Some of us don’t see the connections between our own family histories and global colonial movements, but I think it’s really important to actively look for those connections because they’re there.”
