On Friday, 18 September, Workers World Party hosted a webinar as part of the #Action4Return days of action for Palestinian refugee rights and confronting normalization. The event featured Palestinian writer and activist Khaled Barakat and award-winning Palestinian novelist Susan Abulhawa, discussing a wide range of issues relevant to the Palestinian cause today.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network international coordinator Charlotte Kates co-hosted the panel discussion along with Ted Kelly of the Workers World Prisoner Solidarity Committee. During the discussion, Abulhawa, who just released her latest novel, Against the Loveless World to rave reviews, noted: “History has shown us, time and time again, how quickly the powerful can fall..,I am not counting, but I am counting on the solidarity that we can foster among the masses, pushing for socialism, pushing for anti-colonial ideals, pushing for justice. On the international arena, the question of Palestine is at the heart of every social justice movement.”
Barakat emphasized, “As long as capitalism, as long as U.S. imperialism are ruling our world, there will be occupation, colonization, prisons and injustice. As long as Israel exists, Palestinians will suffer. There is an alternative, in Palestine as well as globally, based on equality, justice and freedom. These values should be at the core of our organizing. When we look at popular movements today, particularly the left has a responsibility to strengthen the building of an international popular front globally…History has shown us that we will be victorious at the end.”
The discussion addressed topics including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Palestinians, especially those under siege in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails; the role of reactionary Arab regimes such as the UAE and Bahrain in complicity with U.S. imperialism and Zionist colonization; and the importance of joint struggle with liberation movements to confront common enemies and move toward a revolutionary future.
Watch the full video online:
The entire webinar can also be heard as a podcast, via Essential Dissent:
