Filipino youth once again held protests and activities on October 7 and the days before and after to commemorate the first year of the Al Aqsa Flood or the Palestinian people’s resistance against the Zionist Israel’s genocide. The Filipino Youth 4 Palestine (FY4P) led most of the activities.

“A year of Israel’s continued atrocities against the people of Gaza, and a year of the Palestinian people’s resistance against the occupation, we now see the expansion of imperialist project reach far and wide,” the group said. It refers to the Zionist Israel’s bombing and attacks, with the support and complicity of the imperialist US, in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.

From October 7, 2023, to October 7 this year, Israel’s attacks and aerial strikes in Gaza killed at least 41,615 people or one in every 55 residents, including 16,756 children.

At least 97,303 people have been injured. The World Health Organization reported around 22,500 of the injured have sustained life-altering injuries. Israel’s destruction of hospitals deprived those who have been injured, resulting in the loss of one or two limbs of 10 children per day, and surgical operations without anesthesia.

According to the Gaza Media Office, 34 hospitals and 80 health centers are no longer usable, 162 health institutions and 131 ambulances have been hit and destroyed by Israeli forces. The Zionists have also killed 986 health workers, including 165 doctors, 260 nurses, and others in the past year.

“While there is an emphasis on the one-year mark since Palestinians have made a statement on their continued resistance against the bloodshed, we also remember that the violence started the moment the false state of genocidal Israel was conceived in 1948, and even years leading up to that very moment,” FY4P said.

F4YP joined the actions in support of the call to stop Zionist Israel’s attacks, demand US imperialism and its allied countries to stop their support of the genocide, and justice and freedom for Palestine.

On October 5, F4YP and its member groups joined a protest led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and the Philippines-Palestine Friendship Association. They marched to the US embassy to hold the US accountable for its involvement and support of the genocide.

On October 6, groups in Baguio City launched a march and program, including some foreign nationals. UP-Baguio students also held a separate action inside the campus on October 8.

On October 7, F4YP and its chapters spearheaded the actions in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman, UP-Manila, UP-Mindanao, UP-Visayas, UP-Los Baños, and Ateneo de Manila University. They also participated in a protest led by international groups such as the International League of Peoples’ Struggle-Asia Pacific at the Boy Scout Circle in Quezon City.

Groups under F4YP continue to gather support and signatures for a joint statement condemning the genocide of Zionist Israel and supporting the liberation of Palestine, as well as educational campaigns and discussions across the country.