by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
With the announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza, Palestine, one lesson is extremely clear: Palestinian resistance lives, Palestinian resistance thrives, Palestinian resistance unites, and Palestinian resistance wins. The resistance, in all of its varied and creative forms, is deeply rooted in the Palestinian people inside and outside Palestine. The Palestinian resistance, with the armed struggle at its heart, is not only the core of the Palestinian liberation movement, but the front line of the defense of humanity against imperialism and colonial domination.
While the Israeli war machine, armed and funded by the United States, was humiliated by the Palestinian resistance, the ceasefire does not end the ongoing Nakba of the Palestinian people, the project of Zionist settler colonialism for more than 73 years. Palestinians are continuing to resist land confiscation, home demolitions, siege, mass incarceration, extrajudicial killings, the denial of the right to return: the entire colonial project in Palestine.
The Palestinian resistance in Gaza entered this battle, demonstrating clearly the unity of the Palestinian people. The heroic struggle of Palestinians in Jerusalem to defend their homes and land, especially in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, and the defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque, mobilized the Palestinian people as a whole.
The Palestinian people in occupied Palestine ’48, driving out the occupation forces from their communities and defending their people from fascist bands and colonial police, underlined that fundamental unity. In the West Bank, villages, cities and refugee camps rose up to demand collective liberation for Palestine.
And everywhere in the world, from the refugee camps surrounding Palestine, throughout the Arab region, and globally, millions filled the streets in support of the Palestinian people and their resistance.
The ceasefire does not bring this struggle to a conclusion, but heralds a new phase of struggle and organizing with a clear vision: return and liberation, justice for all of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
During the assault, at least 282 Palestinians’ and Arabs’ lives have been taken, particularly those of civilians, including 66 children and, indeed, entire families, in Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem, occupied Palestine ’48 and on the borders with Lebanon. In Gaza, banks, media buildings, chemical and plastics factories, public buildings and fundamental civilian infrastructure were subjected to systematic aerial bombings. It is critical to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in Gaza by breaking the siege on Gaza permanently.
Every one of those martyrs’ lives is a precious story cut short by the violence of colonialism. Every martyr had a name, a life, a family, a job, dreams and visions of the future and memories of the past, all stolen by Israeli weaponry, often paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
There are urgent tasks for the solidarity movement today: first and foremost, to keep up, escalate and build the struggle, make our organizing stronger and deeper, and build greater connections of solidarity with liberation movements around the world.
Our vision for solidarity must center and support Palestinian resistance by all means, including armed struggle, alongside cultural resistance, political organizing, mass struggle, strikes, boycotts and popular action. This also means building the boycott movement, isolating Israel on an international level and pushing international governments and the United Nations to impose meaningful sanctions on Israel, from an arms embargo to cutting off the over $3.8 billion in U.S. aid Israel receives every year.
The Palestinian people, whether inside prison bars, in exile in the refugee camps, or fighting for freedom anywhere in Palestine, present a vision for the future that is clear: one Palestine, liberated, free of Zionism, free of imperialism, free of settler colonialism – from the river to the sea.
