Gaza: The Resistance Lives, The Prison Doors Open – On the Road to Liberation and Return

The Palestinian people in Gaza have filled the streets, celebrating, defying the Zionist drones and bombs that continued overhead, upon the announcement of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Doha, Qatar. With every shout, every cheer, every waving Palestinian flag and every firework in the air, it was more clear than ever that amid all of the horrific, genocidal destruction and the tens of thousands of martyrs’ lives taken by the Zionist regime and its imperialist sponsors, backers and directors, it has utterly failed in its goals, and that it is the people and their resistance who remain, strong, honourable, and promising a future in which the genocidal Zionist project is fully defeated throughout Palestine, the Arab nation and the region. Throughout this great struggle against genocide, the prisoners have been at the heart of the cause and the resistance, with the Palestinian people committed to achieving the freedom of the prisoners and continuing to struggle in the most horrendous of circumstances.

Gaza and the Prisoners: At the Heart of Struggle

While the full details of the ceasefire agreement and the prisoner exchange have yet to be fully released, many of the clauses are very clear, including the full withdrawal of all Zionist forces from Gaza, the reopening of the Rafah crossing, the entry of trucks of aid and reconstruction supplies, and the exit of wounded Palestinians for treatment, after an aggression that particularly targeted hospitals and the Palestinian health system. And, alongside the people of Gaza, who have resisted the most extreme form of genocidal assault for the past 465 days, the Palestinian prisoners, living under severe torture, are also at the heart of this agreement, with the Resistance securing the release of all women and youth under the age of 19, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners with life sentences, and many more hundreds of prisoners with life sentences in the upcoming second phase of the exchange, as well as ending the repressive system in the prisons that has been instituted since October 2023. The most oppressed, marginalized and tortured sectors of the Palestinian people are at the center of this agreement, and at the center of the priorities of the resistance.

US Imperialism: Director of Zionist Genocide

It is very clear, given the role of the United States and incoming President Donald Trump in seeking to actually achieve a ceasefire prior to the presidential inauguration on January 20, 2025, for the first time since October 2023, that the US, as the leading imperialist power, directs the Zionist entity. Not only did the US never attempt to achieve a ceasefire, it was the primary director of the escalated genocidal assault on the Palestinian people, alongside the Zionist colony implanted in Palestine. Of course, it was joined in this aggression – on the Palestinian people, the Arab nation, the entire region, and indeed, all of humanity, by its fellow imperialist powers – Canada, Britain, Australia, Germany, France and other European Union members – but it has been apparent to all, as the US ships billions of dollars in deadly weaponry to the Zionist regime and implanted a faux “aid pier” only to support an attack killing hundreds of Palestinians in Nuseirat camp, that the US ordered the genocide and could stop it at any time.

Of course, the US is not acting now to preserve Palestinian lives, but for domestic political concerns and to focus its attention on imperial interests elsewhere. But the fundamental nature of this assault as an imperialist-zionist genocide, carried out with US weapons and intelligence, is not only etched firmly into history, so too is the reputation of “Genocide Joe” Biden, “Killer Kamala” Harris and the Democratic Party, in presiding over the incineration of tens of thousands of precious Palestinian lives and the destruction of every university and hospital in Gaza.

The Armed Resistance Defends the People and the Land

However, it is equally clear to all that it is due to the glorious resistance of the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza, that the bombs will no longer be raining down upon them. Amid the most unimaginably difficult conditions, amid the most dire circumstances, the Palestinian resistance – led by the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas, joined with Saraya al-Quds of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and together with multiple resistance forces including the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the PFLP, the National Resistance Brigades of the DFLP, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades of the resisting sectors of Fatah, and their fellow resistance fighters in Palestine – continued to fight and to strike severe blows against the Zionist soldiers, the genocidal occupiers, until the last moment. Jabalia camp, the spark of the great popular Intifada of 1987, remained full of the fire of the resistance despite the genocidal destruction of the US/Zionist war machine, bringing down their tanks and soldiers with unparalleled courage, creativity and brilliant strategy.

From Gaza to Lebanon to Yemen and Beyond

And, of course, the Palestinian resistance has fought throughout alongside the brilliant and heroic resistance of Lebanon, led by Hezbollah, which has repeatedly defended and liberated the land of Lebanon from the occupiers – and the northern settlers remain dissuaded from returning to the land the occupy in northern Palestine to this day, and of Yemen, its people, government, armed forces and Ansarallah movement, which shut down the supply lines of genocide in the Red Sea, denied the path to US aircraft carriers, and continued to fire its missiles into the heart of the occupation’s “Tel Aviv,” and making clear that the bombs, sanctions, attacks and threats of the Zionist and imperialist forces would never dissuade them from standing with Palestine. The Yemeni example illustrated very clearly the unity of popular action – as the streets filled with millions every Friday in the greatest marches for Palestine in the world – with firm armed resistance and military action. And of course, they were joined by all of the forces of resistance in the region, stretching from Iraq to Iran, and the world, against the genocidal enemy.

The resistance, with the greatest honour, dedication and love of Palestine, has fought tirelessly to defend the Palestinian people — and indeed, humanity itself — from the genocidal Zionist/imperialist forces. This resistance has held the most oppressed in Gaza under siege, in the prisons under torture, at the center, and its achievements, its persistence, its refusal to back down despite everything, defeated the genocidal billions of dollars of weapons deployed against its people at the behest of imperialism and zionism.

Zionism Exposed Before the World

No one will ever again have illusions that the zionist regime is anything other than what it is, a colonial genocidal entity implanted in the region and in the heart of Palestine, a regime that is and will come to an end. The undefeated resistance that defeats the occupier, its great martyrs, its living leaders, its heroic fighters, are the great heroes of humanity. Despite the vast destruction and theft of human life that the Zionist/imperialist forces have caused, despite their war crimes, crimes against humanity and ongoing genocide, they failed to achieve even one of their military objectives. But they have never, and will never, crush the resistance, from the rubble in Jabalia to the torture rooms in their colonial prisons. Throughout all of their destruction, their aggression and genocide, they were unable to achieve their goal of separating the resistance from the Palestinian people. Instead, it only became ever more clear how deeply rooted the resistance is in the people, a relationship of thought and blood and bone. The armed resistance forces continued to recruit throughout the battle, with the al-Qassam Brigades and Saraya al-Quds replenishing their ranks with new fighters burning the tanks of the occupier.

Al-Aqsa Flood Changed the World

October 7, the great crossing, the Al-Aqsa Flood, changed the world. It became clear on that date that the Palestinian people and their resistance were capable of liberating Palestine, and that despite its technological and military resources, the Zionist regime had nothing but racism and imperialist interests to hold it together; and, indeed, that the regional forces of resistance were capable of liberating the Arab nation and the entire region from US imperialism. The imperialist forces and the Zionist colony were unwilling to accept this new reality, and met it with the only strategy they have – mass killing and genocidal destruction. As we have witnessed throughout the decades and centuries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and in the region, with Palestine at its heart, these forces have never refrained from mass murder in order to continue their theft of land, resources and indeed, the future of the peoples of the world. However, despite their vast destructive forces, they were unable to subjugate Algeria, Vietnam, Zimbabwe; they are unable to subjugate Cuba, Venezuela and Iran; and they are unable to defeat the glorious resistance in Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen. Instead, their military objectives have shattered on the rocks of the resistance.

Genocide is Inherent in Zionism and Imperialism

This does not mean the danger is over. From Syria, to Lebanon, to Palestine and beyond, it is apparent that the United States seeks to control the future of the region and will not refrain from genocide in order to do so. It will seek to shuffle the cards to hinder the resistance once again and to use its sanctions, sieges, unilateral coercive measures and “terrorist designations” in order to achieve its goals through a politics of starvation and deprivation. Therefore, this moment must drive us to build a broader, stronger, movement against imperialism that is capable of standing beside the resistance forces of the region to confront and challenge imperialist genocide. We are aware that imperialist and Zionist forces will escalate their repression domestically as well; the banning and/or designation of Samidoun by Germany, Canada and the United States is but one example. However, we are also aware that we must be prepared to fight repression, defend those attacked, and build a stronger movement that can significantly hinder the imperialist assault.

Of course, the genocide in Palestine did not begin in October 2023, and it will not end with the implementation of this agreement. Genocide is the nature of Zionism; it is the weapon of imperialism. Since 1948 – and indeed, since the Balfour declaration and British colonialism in Palestine – Palestinians have been resisting genocide. This is, however, a new stage of struggle against the ongoing Zionist genocide, organized, directed and backed by the imperialist powers – as illustrated by their colonial bombardment of Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank as the ceasefire agreement was being announced.

Honouring the Martyrs

As we mark this moment, it is with honour to the great martyrs; every father, mother and child, every sister, brother and loved one taken by the imperialist-zionist genocidal force; the doctors, nurses, journalists, health workers, teachers, municipal workers, police, and aid workers targeted by the occupation regime as they worked to wipe out all of the systems of sustenance of Palestinian life and steadfastness. We salute the 55 martyrs of the prisoners’ movement in the dungeons of the occupier, amid reportedly hundreds or thousands more martyred in the torture camps such as Sde Teiman, after being abducted from Gaza by the occupation regime.

And of course, the great leaders of the Resistance, whose unparalleled legacy of struggle, sacrifice and commitment lives on in every struggling resistance fighter and in every hope for the future of a liberated Palestine, a truly sovereign Lebanon, a proud Yemen. Saleh al-Arouri, the great Palestinian fighter; Ismail Haniyeh, the icon of Palestinian national unity and self-determination; Yahya Sinwar, the legendary fighter and liberated prisoner who fought to liberate the prisoners, Gaza and all of Palestine; Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the great Arab leader and icon of decades of resistance, the maker of victory over the Zionists; Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, the heroic strategist of resistance; Ibrahim Aqil, Fouad Shukr, Ali Karaki; Abdel Aziz Minawi, the Political Bureau member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement assassinated in Damascus, and many more yet to be fully named and honoured.

As we join with the Palestinian people in celebrating this moment, we are fully aware that Zionism and imperialism cannot be trusted, and neither can reactionary Arab regimes working in concert with them. Time and time again, the Zionist entity violates its agreements and breaks its commitments, a lesson that is quite clear to the Palestinian resistance, the prisoners’ movement, and all resistance forces. It will be up to the people and the resistance – as always – to protect the people; and it is up to us, around the world, to meet the challenge to do everything possible to defeat all of the schemes of imperialism and Zionism to impose a “Pax Americana” on Palestine and the region. The Zionist regime is itself a genocidal project – the only way to truly bring an end to genocide in Palestine is to bring the Zionist colony “Israel” to its end.

The International Popular Cradle of the Resistance

At the international level, this is a critical moment not to step back and to de-escalate, but to intensify and deepen our efforts to build the international popular cradle of the resistance. Millions of people filled the streets, in the heart of the imperialist core, to demand an end to the genocide and justice and liberation for Palestine. It is clear to everyone around the world that the Zionist regime is a genocidal threat to humanity. The resistance surmounted the lies and smear campaigns waged against them in an attempt to justify genocide and stand tall today as true heroes of humanity. The Palestinian and Arab people in exile and diaspora rose up everywhere to organize, come together, and play their role in the struggle for Palestine’s liberation. Direct actions like those of Palestine Action, confronting the war machine, have shut down weapons factories and offices of Israeli arms dealers. Students changed the picture of campus life everywhere as they rose up in a global intifada. The growing popular and grassroots boycott illustrated international popular revulsion and refusal of complicity in genocide. And yet, we also have key lessons to learn: We cannot have a successful movement or serve as a partner to the resistance without being clear on the role of imperialism, and equally clear on the centrality of the resistance forces. We cannot allow our movement to be taken down the road of imperialist party politics, competing over who is in charge of the theft of Palestinian lives.

Accountability must be imposed upon all those responsible for the genocidal assault on Gaza, and upon the people of Palestine and the region. Their crimes will neither be forgotten nor forgiven; from the engineers and architects of genocide in the halls of power to the occupation soldiers who broadcast their torture and abuse on social media to the propagandists who lied to the world to market a genocidal regime, we must work at all levels to impose true accountability and justice upon the perpetrators of these horrendous crimes.

Just as the power of resistance was made clear to all, so too were the weaknesses of the movement more broadly: the effective silencing of the Arab masses throughout much of the region, through reactionary regimes armed and funded by US imperialism, the continued role of the Egyptian regime in maintaining the siege on Gaza, the arrests of strugglers and activists in Jordan and Morocco, not to mention the continuing normalization of the United Arab Emirates. Within the international context, this must become a moment where we organize, consolidate and deepen our organizations. We must not have a “short breath” for what is inherently a long-term struggle in order to truly play our role as an international framework of resistance.

Unity and the Necessity of Anti-Imperialism

Our strength and our unity comes from standing together against repression, and for liberation, not in allowing our enemies to cut us off from one another through a politics that seeks accommodation within genocidal imperialism, self-censorship and subordination. It is, at the core, the armed resistance, the Palestinian prisoners, and of course, the people of Gaza, who exposed Zionism and imperialism and brought down all of their military objectives, who are opening the doors of freedom for the heroic prisoners of the cause of Palestine, and who promise a Palestinian future that will be determined only by the people and not by its occupiers, invaders and enemies. This is an indelible stamp and a historical moment upon the road to liberation and return for all of Palestine, brought ever closer.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the Palestinian people and their Resistance and commits to continuing, intensifying and the struggle for liberation.

Glory and victory to the resistance, from Palestine to Lebanon and Yemen and everywhere in the region. The final defeat of Zionism and imperialism is coming. And Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea.