Prisoner, Leader, Martyr: Yahya Sinwar, the great hero of Palestine

18 October 2024

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the leadership, martyrdom and heroism of the great Palestinian leader, Yahya Sinwar, Abu Ibrahim, martyred in battle against occupation forces on 17 October 2024. Sinwar, who was martyred as he fought until the last breath alongside his comrades, advancing and not retreating, wounded, forcing a whole battalion of occupation soldiers to retreat, resisting still as they fired tank shells at him, throwing debris at a drone targeting him even though he had already lost an arm, epitomized the courage, heroism and bravery of the resistance fighter in battle against the colonialist, imperialist oppressor.

Chair of the Political Bureau of Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, commander of the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, son of the Palestinian popular classes and Khan Younis refugee camp, liberated prisoner and leader of the prisoners’ movement, struggling mujahid, refugee denied his right to return home, resistance fighter and organizational and grassroots leader, Sinwar was and remains renowned on the Palestinian, Arab and international level for his brilliance, strategic thinking, and deep commitment to the liberation of Palestine, its prisoners, its people and its land.

We extend our condolences and congratulations to the Palestinian people, Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement and its leadership, members and supporters, the resistance fighters on the front lines, all of the forces of resistance in the region, the revolutionary movements of the world, and his family and loved ones on the martyrdom of Yahya Sinwar, the hero of Palestine. He arose as a leader from the prisoners’ movement, through 23 years in Zionist prisons, and liberated by the resistance exactly 13 years ago today. In his strategic approach, his unremitting courage and heroism, his broad national approach and his refusal to abandon or compromise the principles of Palestinian liberation, he represented the promise and the role of the prisoners as leaders of the resistance and of the liberation struggle as a whole.

Yahya Sinwar was born on 29 October 1962 in Khan Younis, a Palestinian refugee from Majdal Asqelan, whose parents were forced from their homes and lands in al-Nakba, one of the over 70% of the Palestinian people in Gaza who are themselves refugees denied their right to return home. He grew up in Gaza, a cradle of resistance throughout the years and decades, where in the 1960s and early 1970s, Mohammed al-Aswad, “Guevara Gaza,” and his resistance fighters protected and controlled the Strip by night even as occupation forces aimed at control it by day; on his road to leading the resistance in Gaza to a great battle that has already changed the world.

Sinwar was part of the founding generation of Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, in Gaza, from his student days in the early 1980s, when he first became active in the Islamic Bloc at the then-new Islamic University of Gaza, the first higher education institution founded in the Gaza Strip. He was Secretary of the Bloc’s Technical Committee, then the Sports Committee of the Student Council, before becoming Vice-President and then President of the Council. It was for his student activities and leadership that he was first arrested by the Zionist regime at the age of 20; he was ordered to administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, for four months. After he was released, he was abducted once again only one week later and ordered again to six months of administrative detention. This is the same policy of pursuit of the leadership of the student movement that the occupation continues to pursue, 40 years later, on campuses throughout occupied Palestine, seeing the student movement as a site of development of the future national leadership of the Palestinian liberation movement. Again in 1985, he was arrested and held for 8 months in Zionist prisons.

In 1986, prior to the launch of the Hamas movement in December 1987, he founded Majd alongside Khaled al-Hindi and Rawhi Mushtaha, at the behest of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the leading founder of Hamas. Majd was a security framework that would develop into the movement’s internal security, tracking Zionist intelligence officers, security services, and collaborators and agents engaged in dealings with the enemy, in order to protect the people and the resistance.

He was once again seized by occupation forces on 20 January 1988, less than two months after the announcement of the formation of the Islamic Resistance Movement and some of its early operations, including the liquidation of two occupation soldiers. Sinwar was accused of leading and directing the operation to attack and kill the soldiers as well as four collaborators arrested by the resistance for spying and conspiring against the Palestinian resistance.

At that time, a zionist interrogator who was tasked with questioning Sinwar remarked that he was told defiantly, “You know that one day you will be the one under interrogation, and I will stand here as the government, as the interrogator. I will interrogate you.” After the launch of the battle of Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October 2023, Ha’aretz published a self-congratulatory interview with one of Sinwar’s former torturers. While it, as always, aims to demonize Sinwar as a confident, brave leader of the resistance who refused to crumble in the face of the interrogators, the reality of anti-colonial revolutionary consciousness nonetheless shines through in the narrative:

“He was not in awe of the interrogator – on the contrary: He was defiant all the time. I can read you what I wrote about him in the first interrogation. I kept it. ‘Definitely an anomalous figure in his personality, wisdom and level of intelligence. Religiously extreme, a believer, one who is at peace with his words and his deeds.’…He is super-intelligent…The fact that he was placed behind bars didn’t undermine his leadership abilities or affect his determination to take action against the Zionist enemy. On the contrary: In prison he simply kept working. He activated people, recruited militants.”

Sinwar endured decades of torture and brutality in the zionist prisons. Rather than allowing his soul and spirit to be crushed by the abhorrent circumstances in which he found himself in, Sinwar turned prison into a trench of combat. He withstood interrogation, torture and took the opportunity to study the enemy. During his time in prison, Sinwar achieved the remarkable feat of teaching himself Hebrew, and engaging in an extensive study of the enemy’s security system and repression apparatus. He knew well the tactics of the colonizer and its vulnerabilities and was determined to share this knowledge to develop the resistance movement as a whole. Deeply dedicated to the advancement of the Hamas movement on the structural, political and military level, he was also deeply committed to Palestinian, Arab and Islamic national unity in confronting the occupation, pursuing the development of joint resistance across all factions and advancing the relationship of Hamas with all of the resistance forces in the region, primarily those that make up the Camp of Resistance: Hezbollah and the Lebanese Resistance, the Iraqi Resistance, Yemen and its people, government, armed forces and the AnsarAllah movement, Syria and Iran. His commitment to unity in resistance and in the liberation struggle was partially developed through his time as a leader in the prisoners’ movement across political lines in confrontation with the colonizer.

He led the Higher Leadership Committee of Hamas prisoners within the Zionist prisons for two terms and was part of the leadership of collective hunger strikes in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. He was held in multiple prisons, including Majdal, Hadarim, Bir al-Saba and Nafha prisons. He attempted to escape on multiple occasions, digging a hole in the wall of his cell in Majdal prison with a wire and a small saw, and cutting the bars from his window in Ramla prison. After these attempts, he was held in solitary confinement for four years and deprived of family visits; his father visited him twice in 13 years, while his brother was prevented from visiting him for 18 years. During his imprisonment, he survived brain cancer; later, the Zionist regime and its spokespeople publicly lamented the fact that he received medical treatment behind bars.

He aimed to translate some of the books of the occupiers, particularly on security and intelligence into Arabic, such as “Shabak Among the Ruins” by Carmi Gillon, and “Israeli Parties in 1992,” which introduced Zionist political parties. He wrote “Hamas: Trial and Error” on the development of the Hamas Movement, and the book “Al-Majd”, detailing the occupation’s security apparatus and intelligence efforts. It is in this book he also wrote about methods of interrogation of Palestinian political prisoners and the role of colonial intelligence agencies in planting and recruitng agents, in order to develop the level of knowledge and resilience within the liberation movement to resist such efforts. Sinwar was a shining example of the struggle for freedom of political prisoners. His freedom from zionist prisons was a result of his incredible will behind the bars of occupation, and the political victories brought by the resistance.

In 2004, he published his novel while in Bir al-Saba prison, “Thorns of Carnations,” which told a fictionalized personal narrative of the Palestinian struggle between 1967 and the development of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, amid the rise of the Hamas movement in its social context. Haneen Odetallah writes:

“The choice of the writer, primarily a political and military figure, to document this pivotal stage in the history of armed resistance and transmit it in this creative, novelistic form indicates that it is an attempt that goes beyond merely recounting history and its events. The historical novel is not just a reflection of the events of the past; it is a deep exploration of the philosophical and moral forces that shape historical movements….As for the writer, he is one of the pioneering figures in Hamas who witnessed its inception and contributed to its formation and development from youth to the present day. His departure from the confines of traditional historiography to address innovative dramatic struggles in history allows him to explore its philosophical dimensions; specifically, the impact of beliefs on history. In the context of the history of Hamas, this enables him to formulate a philosophy for the Islamic Resistance Movement.”

Yahya Sinwar was liberated from Zionist prisons on 18 October 2011, exactly 13 years ago today, in the Wafa’ al-Ahrar — “Loyalty of the Free” — prisoner exchange, alongside 1,026 fellow Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for Gilad Shalit, the occupation soldier captured by the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Nabih Awada captured the leadership role Sinwar played in the exchange from behind bars, including thwarting attempts by the occupation to divide the prisoners from each other, and his commitment to achieving the liberation of all of the heroic fighters serving long sentences in Zionist jails, like Ibrahim Hamed, Hassan Salameh, Ahmad Sa’adat, and Abdullah Barghouthi. “Sinwar specified from inside his prison the price for the release of Gilad Shalit. The agreement was concluded on October 11, 2011, with the Netanyahu government announcing its approval of the deal with Hamas which achieved the liberation of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including Yahya Sinwar,” Awada wrote. Sinwar always firmly recognized the necessity of and remained committed to securing prisoner exchanges in order to liberate all of the Palestinian prisoners held in Zionist jails. In 2015, he was officially appointed by Hamas to hold the file of prisoner exchanges and captives held by the resistance.

When he exited the Zionist prisons, he was greeted with a hero’s welcome, and resumed his leadership role in the resistance, directly from his leadership in the prisoners’ movement. Upon his release, he married Samar Mohammed Abu Zamar and had one son, Ibrahim, and immediately took up tasks of leadership. In 2012, he was elected member of the Political Bureau of Hamas, with responsibility for its military wing, the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and coordinating between the political and military leadership of the movement, playing a particularly distinguished role in resisting the 2014 zionist assault on Gaza. In 2017, he was elected as the chair of the Hamas movement in Gaza, and re-elected in 2021. His home was bombed and destroyed by occupation airstrikes in 2012, 2014 and again in 2021, yet he refused to retreat in his positions in any way and frequently spoke publicly about his commitment to remain on the front lines of struggle and his welcoming of martyrdom for Palestine. As was befitting of his status as a son of the popular classes of Palestine, he lived a modest life like that of his people. He was filled with compassion for his people and all of the oppressed of the world at the same time that he confronted the oppressors with fiery speeches and escalating military developments.

Sinwar was one of the leaders and originators of the Great March of Return in 2018-2019, the mass marches of Palestinians to the colonially imposed “border” to demand their natural and internationally recognized right of return. As demonstrated in his commitment to the liberation of the prisoners, here he once again emphasized the fundamental principles of the Palestinian cause — breaking the siege on Gaza, yes, but inextricably linked to the return of Palestinian refugees expelled from their lands during al-Nakba (the catastrophe), the liberation of the people and the land. This popular mobilization also emphasized his commitment to the unity of resistance, including popular mass mobilization and led by the armed struggle, in a comprehensive resistance and revolutionary effort for the liberation of Palestine and the defeat of Zionism and imperialism.

In 2021, in the Battle of Seif al-Quds/the Unity of the Fields, Sinwar, his movement, and the Palestinian people in Gaza joined the battle taking place in Jerusalem to defend the land against settlers and to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque against repeated attacks and incursions. The resistance in Gaza responded to the call of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and were joined by an uprising in occupied Palestine ’48, marches of return from Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria approaching Palestinian borders, and worldwide mobilization of the Palestinian refugees in the diaspora and supporters of the Palestinian struggle, in a heroic moment of the battle that reaffirmed once more the unity of the Palestinian people and land despite over seven decades of occupation and colonialism.

The launch of the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October 2023 was a pivotal moment in the history of the Palestinian cause, of the Arab revolution, and of the international struggle against imperialism. When the time was right, in the midst of social strife in the occupation state stemming from conflict over Netanyahu’s rule, Sinwar and the Al-Qassam Brigades launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood to break the siege, make way for a prisoner exchange, and open the road to the liberation of Palestine. In mere minutes, the billions of dollars in defenses, “elite troops”, and “iron walls” that were supposed to keep Gaza locked up ended up being destroyed. The world once again saw the power of the Palestinians when they fight. The operation was planned in detail and brilliantly executed, targeting key military sites and, in particular, the intelligence divisions of the occupation military besieging Gaza. The genocidal assault of the Zionist regime we have witnessed since then is an attempt to complete the always-genocidal intentions of the colonial occupation of Palestine and an attempt to erase the victorious power of the Palestinian people and their heroic Resistance, revealed before the world on 7 October. It became clear on that day that it was indeed possible for the resistance to defeat the zionist military and create a Palestine free of Zionist colonialism — and for the forces of resistance in the region to liberate the Arab nation, Iran and the entire region from imperialist hegemony. The imperialist-Zionist alliance has since unleashed a bloodbath in an attempt to render that future impossible.

However, their vicious and bloody assault has done nothing to erase the Palestinian people and their commitment to struggle and to liberation. Their assassinations of great leaders like Saleh al-Arouri, Ismail Haniyeh, Fouad Shukr, Ibrahim Aqil, Ali Karaki, and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has failed to achieve their military goals and kill the resistance; instead, their martyrdom has inspired and urged onward a new generation of resistance fighters confronting the occupier, burning their tanks, and repelling their assaults. Hezbollah, leading the Lebanese resistance, is once again creating a graveyard for Merkava tanks, even as Germany shoots down its drones and the US sends over THAAD missiles, joining even more overtly the battle for the imperialist outpost in the region.

The assassinations of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Dr. Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi, Yahya Ayyash, Abu Ali Mustafa, Ghassan Kanafani, Fathi Shiqaqi, Samir Kuntar, Abbas al-Musawi, Imad Mughniyyeh, Sheik Khader Adnan, Kamal Nasser, Mohammed al-Najjar and Wadie Haddad did not kill their cause nor the Palestinian and Arab liberation movement; the resistance is more deeply rooted than ever before, while the Zionist project remains a fragile implantation, imposed at the force of billions of dollars in colonial weaponry on a daily basis. Of course, we know also that his martyrdom came on 17 October 2024, 23 years after the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine assassinated the infamous racist tourism minister of the occupation, Rehavam Ze’evi, in response to the assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa, to impose a mechanism of justice and accountability — and the prisoners of the 17 October operation are among those that the Resistance is currently seeking to liberate in a prisoner exchange.

As in all anti-colonial resistance struggles, assassinations can never kill the resistance, but only confirm the immortality of great leaders who give their lives in struggle. Yahya Sinwar’s martyrdom was unique, joining his comrades and fellow resistance fighters on the front lines of struggle, advancing to confront the genocidal invaders, wearing a kuffiyeh and military gear, his gun in his hand, a legendary image and material manifestation of the collective unyielding will to liberate Palestine.

Yahya Sinwar was martyred like Sheikh Izz el-Din al-Qassam himself in November 1935, in a firefight with the occupier — then the British, now the Zionist colonizer. Today’s Qassam, will, too, inspire generations to rise, until the defeat of zionism and imperialism and the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.

The zionist entity and the imperialists have released images of Sinwar in his final hours in hopes of demoralizing the Palestinian resistance and its people. From “Genocide Joe” Biden and “Holocaust” Kamala Harris, to Justin Trudeau, to Anthony Albanese, Keir Starmer, Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron, imperialist officials saluted, praised and boasted about Sinwar’s death, making clear once again that the genocide in Palestine is a US-led imperialist priority.

The image of a great political and military leader, fighting on the front lines for his people, living to fight again despite their bullets, their drones and their tank shells, engaged as a field commander until his last breath, stands before the Palestinian people, the Arab people, and all free people of the world, as one of unparalleled courage, self-sacrifice and bravery.

These images will serve as a beacon of heroism and inspiration for the resistance of today and future generations. Unlike the cowardice that marks the leaders of the zionist entity and the imperialists who cower at the face of the resistance, Sinwar was unyielding in facing the enemy head-on. Shattering all myths that the resistance “hides behind civilians”, the images and circumstances of Sinwar’s martyrdom proves that the resistance is on the frontlines against the enemy, acting as the first barrier between genocidal forces and the whole Palestinian people. Sinwar’s martyrdom proved beyond doubt his incredible courage and will, fighting with blood and soul until the very end.

He is an international icon of resistance, of refusal to submit to colonialism, of readiness to act in all circumstances, of commitment to sacrifice for God, the people and liberation, of the march of martyrs, from Che Guevara to Chris Hani to Sayyed Nasrallah to Yahya Sinwar.

The al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement issued today:

“When the resistance factions, with Hamas at the forefront, decided to enter this major, decisive battle in the history of the Palestinian people’s struggle and our nation’s journey, they knew the price of liberation was very high, a price all nations paid before freeing themselves from their occupiers. They were ready to lead the ranks of the sacrificers, offering both leaders and soldiers, refusing to submit to the enemy or remain silent about its oppression and theft of our people’s legitimate rights….This criminal enemy is delusional if it thinks that by assassinating the great leaders of the resistance such as Sinwar, Haniyeh, Nasrallah, Al-Arouri and others, it can extinguish the flame of the resistance or push it to retreat. Rather, it will continue and escalate until the legitimate goals of our people are achieved. Martyrdom is the highest thing our leaders desire, and their blood will be a beacon that lights the path to liberation and a fire that burns the aggressors.”

Yahya Sinwar’s life, struggle and commitment live on, until the defeat of the Zionist regime and its imperialist partners and sponsors, and until victory: the liberation of Palestine, and the liberation of the Arab people and the region from Zionism, imperialism and their agents and collaborators.

Glory to the martyr Yahya Sinwar and all the martyrs of Palestine and the Resistance. Return, liberation and victory to Lebanon, to Yemen, to all of the forces of the Resistance. Victory for Palestine, all of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

We keep resisting: US and Canada sanction Samidoun

16 October 2024

On October 15, the United States and Canada sanctioned Samidoun in an attempt to repress political organizing in support of the Palestinian people’s struggle against genocide, colonialism and occupation, and the more than 10.000 Palestinian political prisoners that are being tortured and killed by the Zionist entity. In the US, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the sanctions, while the Canadian governmenthas listed Samidoun as a “terrorist entity” under its criminal code.

These decisions come at a time when the Zionist entity continues its genocide and massacres in Gaza, all of Palestine and Lebanon with full support from the US, Canada and the European Union. It is a coordinated attempt by the enemies of the Palestinian people to stop every form of solidarity with the Palestinian people and political organizing efforts to end Israel’s genocide, crimes against humanity and occupation.

Our response to this designation is clear: we will keep struggling to stop the genocide, stop imperialist support for Israel, until the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.

Besides sending weapons and money to the Zionist entity, imperialist powers are repressing the Palestinian diaspora, Arab community and international activists for Palestine that are resisting these countries’ support for the occupation. Thousands of activists in North-America and Europe have been arrested, their houses raided or imprisoned. Palestinians in various countries have received deportation orders for their political activism. In Germany, a ban has been implemented against the slogan “from the river to sea, Palestine will be free”.

This designation and sanctions should be of serious concern to all who carry out political work, especially for Palestinian liberation, just like the banning of Samidoun in Germany in November 2023. It is meant to introduce a norm in which organizations may be designated as “terrorist” for organizing demonstrations, lectures, publishing posters and engaging in entirely public and political work that challenges imperialist states’ complicity in Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ongoing genocide in Gaza. It comes at a time when more people than ever are speaking out for justice and liberation in Palestine and is meant as an attack on the movement as a whole.

We also express our strongest solidarity with Khaled Barakat, Palestinian writer and executive committee member of the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, who was targeted by the US in the same order as a “specially designated global terrorist.” This is meant to silence his effective work and activity in organizing Palestinians in exile and diaspora in the struggle for return and liberation for Palestine.

The repression of Samidoun is part of a larger attack against the Palestinian diaspora, the Arab community and all internationalists that struggle for Palestine. All mainstream political parties, from Democrats to Republicans, and from social democrats to the extreme right-wing, have used the past year to propagate more racist, Islamophobic and repressive measures against the Palestinian people, Arabs, Muslims, refugees, migrants and activists. This repression reflects the interests of the US and Canada, themselves settler-colonial states built on genocide, ethnic cleansing and continued oppression of the Indigenous peoples, and Europe, the birthplace of the Zionist movement.

It is part of the global struggle against colonialism and imperialism that will continue until the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, the right of return for all Palestinian refugees and the liberation of all oppressed peoples and nations.

Like the Zionist entity fears the Palestinian resistance, so do the imperialist powers fear the Palestinian diaspora and their supporters that have been rising up again and again, especially since the start of operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the Zionist genocide. They fear a strong, popular movement that threatens their economic and political interests in Palestine and the region.

The repression is a sign of strength for the Palestinian movement and the international solidarity movement. This movement has mobilized the largest demonstrations for Palestine in history, has costed Israeli and Zionist companies billions of dollars in losses, it has united millions of people from across the world, and it has united virtually all social movements in every country for the Palestinian liberation struggle.

Samidoun is particularly targeted because of our political and vocal support for the Palestinian prisoners movement and the Palestinian people’s right to resistance. While the US and Canada are two of Israel’s biggest material supporters with weapons and money and repress the Palestinian movement in their own countries, their official outposts abroad have frequently sought to influence and direct Palestinian politics through conditional funding and similar colonial enterprises. Through these sanctions, the US and Canada wish not only to support genocide but to criminalize even verbal resistance to that genocide. The Palestinian people, like all colonized and oppressed peoples, have the right to resist to liberate themselves and their land from colonialism and occupation, from the river to the sea. Those who resist occupation and oppression — the Palestinian resistance — are not only heroes of the Palestinian people, they are defenders of all of humanity.

As Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, we reiterate our support for the Palestinian people, the prisoners and the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic resistance, who are confronting the genocide and occupation on a daily basis.

At the same time, we want to stress that Samidoun does not have any material or organizational ties to entities listed on the terrorist lists of the United States, Canada or the European Union.

We reiterate our words upon German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ announcement of the demand to ban Samidoun: In Arabic, the word “Samidoun,” means those who are steadfast. We use this name to refer to the Palestinian prisoners, who remain behind bars, struggling for freedom. Today we affirm that we shall remain steadfast and committed to the Palestinian people, until victory, return and liberation.

October 2024, Seattle: Al-Aqsa Flood Month of Action

3 October 2024

The PNW stands with Palestine and the Palestinian Resistance!

Join us and our fighting organizations as we come together to honor the sacrifices of our heroic martyrs and uplift the victory of Al-Aqsa Flood.

This month, there will be a series of events, teach ins, marches, and prop builds in the lead up to a mass mobilization on October 13th, when we will come together as an entire region to take the streets and show the ruling elites that the Pacific Northwest stands with the Palestinian Resistance!

Details, calendar and more at https://floodpnw.com. Below are just a FEW of the events during the month:

Saturday, October 5 – One Year of Genocide, One Year of Resistance Rally — Prisoners’ Contingent!

1 pm, Pier 62 Seattle Water Front⁩ ⁨

JOIN US IN UPLIFTING OUR PRISONERS! 🇵🇸

Currently there are around 10,000 Palestinians being held hostage in occupation prisons.
Nearly 100 of them are women, 240 are children and nearly 3,500 are being held WITHOUT CHARGE OR TRIAL. This doesn’t even include those from Gaza being held captive in Zionist concentration camps.

From Seattle to Palestine it is our duty to demand the freedom of ALL Palestinian prisoners!

Bring your flags, signs, or grab one of ours!

We take to the streets this October 5th at 1pm to show the word that after one year of genocide, the Palestinian people, prisoners and resistance is strong and steadfast in their path towards liberation.⁩

Join Samidoun Seattle on October 9th to gain a deeper understanding of the Al-Aqsa flood operation on October 7 of 2023 and bust myths and understand the facts. This event includes a lecture by author and journalist Dr. Ramzy Baroud, small group discussions, and the opportunity to write letters to Palestinian prisoners – the compass of our struggle. Location sent after registration. Register at tinyurl.com/Oct7PolEd

The Defend the Palestinian and Lebanese Resistance Rally is officially taking place in front of the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) on Sunday, October 13th, and 1pm.

This rally is the culmination of collaborative events this past month with the larger goal of defending and uplifting the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, amidst Zionist bombardment and genocide.

Come and demonstrate the power of those allied with the resistance in the greater Seattle area.

One of our build up events is the Month of Action Art Build on October 6, 2-5pm (slide 2), where we invite anyone to join us in creating amazing art and props for the rally on the 13th. You can register at TINYURL.COM/ResistancePropParties.

In the meantime, please keep sharing and signing up for our other calendar events on floodpnw.com

6 October, ALL OUT IN MADRID. Palestina Libre. End the Genocide. Victory to the Resistance!

3 October 2024

📍 Legazpi, Madrid
🕓12:00 h
🗓️6 October 2024

76 years of GENOCIDE, 76 years of RESISTANCE

We will meet on October 6 to show that one year after the beginning of the newest Palestinian intifada, we are still fighting, demanding that the Spanish state cut all kinds of relations with a genocidal and apartheid state that seeks not only to exterminate the entire Palestinian population, but also, as we have seen in recent days, to exterminate the Arabs of the entire region and steal and occupy their land.

Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen will continue to resist. This is a war against humanity and we must take a position against the massacres that we are seeing live.

We know that it is a long and constant struggle, but if the Palestinian comrades continue to fight until their last breath, it is our responsibility to do so as well.

Palestine lives, the struggle continues

NOTE: This march is part of the fourth convening of the Masar Badil Movement in Madrid. Check out these events on October 4, 5 and 7!

Friday, October 4th, 2024:
- Press conference, in C/ Gran Vía 40 2 Local ASC (local 2 y 3), 12.00 CET.
- “A Revolutionary Path for Palestinian Liberation”, in Espacio El Rastro (Madrid), at 5pm CET.

Saturday, October 5th, 2024:
- “Anti-Colonial Women Congress: Weaving Networks of Resistance”, in Espacio El Rastro (Madrid), at 09.30 am CET.
- “Voices for Palestine: Culture, Art and Resistance” in Espacio El Rastro (Madrid), at 5.30 pm CET.

Sunday, October 6th, 2024:
- March “76 Years of Genocide, 76 Years of Resistance”, from Legazpi to Plaza Reina Sofía, at 12.00 pm CET.

Monday, October 7th, 2024:
- Demonstration in front of the US Embassy (Madrid), at 7 pm CET.

13 October, Online: The Resistance Front and the New Global Order-Making [POSTPONED]

3 October 2024

This Sunday’s panel discussion, The Resistance Front and the New Global Order-Making, scheduled for October 13, has been postponed. In light of the recent Zionist escalation and atrocities against Iran and Lebanon, which represent an existential threat to all peoples in the region and to the planet, we are working on expanding the panel’s scope and adding more speakers from the region. New information to follow. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

DATE: Sunday, October 13, 2024 [POSTPONED]

TIMES:

6:30 pm Tehran

4 pm London UK

10 am Central

11 am Eastern

15:00 UTC

Click here to register.

About this Event

On September 17th, Israel launched an indiscriminate and disproportionate attack against Lebanon, triggering pager devices to detonate, which resulted in thousands of injuries and several fatalities, including the killing of a 10-year-old Lebanese girl. This attack has been preceded by an earlier escalation on July 31st, just one week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the U.S. Congress. During that escalation, Israel further intensified the ongoing genocide by assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, in Tehran. This assassination, a blatant violation of Iranian sovereignty under international law, has further destabilized West Asia and propelled the struggle for liberation in the Arab-Iranian region against Zionist-imperialist aggression into a new phase, heightening the potential for a significant response from Iran.

Iran’s top political and military leaders have declared that their ‘blood revenge’ for Haniyeh’s assassination—who was on a diplomatic mission to attend Iran’s presidential inauguration—while inherently defensive, will be far more severe than the response to the April attack. In that instance, Iran had launched more than 300 missiles and drones directly at Israel in an act of self-defense in response to Israel’s earlier bombing of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Damascus on April 1. This unprecedented move altered the strategic balance in the region.

The response of the Resistance Front to recent Zionist aggressions could mark a pivotal moment, potentially with significant geopolitical and economic implications for order-making in a region where public opinion is reaching a boiling point, and the political backlash against Israel’s actions and U.S. support for its regime is growing to an unprecedented level.

In this panel, we discuss the evolving dimensions of the recent escalation in the region. The discussion will contextualize these developments within the broader shifts in global power dynamics, drawing on legal and geopolitical economic perspectives.

Speakers

Foad Izadi is a professor of American Studies at the Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of World BEYOND War. He is based in Iran. Izadi’s research and teaching interests are interdisciplinary and focus on United States-Iran relations and U.S. public diplomacy. His book, United States Public Diplomacy Towards Iran, discusses the United States communication efforts in Iran during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. Izadi has published numerous studies in national and international academic journals and major handbooks, including: Journal of Communication Inquiry, Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy and Edward Elgar Handbook of Cultural Security.

Taha Zeinali is a researcher at the University of Kassel, Germany, with a focus on Critical International Political Economy and Development Studies. His research interests include the political economy of imperialist encroachment in West Asia, the intersection of sanctions and neoliberalism, and strategies for developing economic resilience under these conditions, and potential alternative modes of integration of Iran’s economy into the global market. His current research involves a conjunctural analysis of the political realignment within the Iranian state during the 2010s, examining its relationship with the sanction regime and other aspects of imperialist hybrid war.

Helyeh Doutaghi is a scholar of international law. Her research explores the intersections of the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), encompassing postcolonial critiques of law, sanctions, and international political economy. Additionally, she is interested in International Humanitarian Law (IHL), having written about its history, practice, and the production of knowledge (and ignorance), particularly in the context of the US military. Before completing her doctoral studies in law and legal studies, Helyeh obtained her LLM in Transnational Law from King’s College London and her BA Honors in Law, with a minor in Political Science, at Carleton University. Most recently, she was the co-chair of the International People’s Tribunal on US Imperialism.

Khaled Barakat is a Palestinian writer and member of the Executive Committee of the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement

Radhika Desai, Moderator is Professor in the Department of Political Studies and Director of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group at the University of Manitoba, Canada, and Convenor of the International Manifesto Group.

Organizers

This webinar is organized by the International Manifesto Group and Helyeh Doutaghi.

Vancouver Week of Action: October 5, 6, 7, 8. Al-Aqsa Flood of Liberation – Take the streets for Palestine & Lebanon!

3 October 2024

We are approaching one year of Al-Aqsa Flood, as well as one year of the intensified Zionist genocide in Palestine, amid the assault on Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank. As we write today, over 20 martyrs’ lives have been taken in a Zionist/US airstrike in Tulkarem, in the West Bank. In the past 2 days, over 99 martyrs’ lives have been taken in Gaza as the Zionist regime targets orphanages, family homes and schools sheltering displaced people. The criminal regime has launched a new belt of fire against al-Dahiyeh, the southern suburbs of Beirut, causing such massive damage as to exceed all previous attacks. At the same time, the genocidal occupier has been unable to enter southern Lebanon, confronted by the heroic resistance.

This is an urgent time for all of us to come out for all of these actions. Join us in the week of action!

October 5: International Day of Action – Mass Rally and March. 2 pm, Vancouver Art Gallery
October 6: Teach-in: Al-Aqsa Flood, The Operation — Register to join: https://shorturl.at/vrbms
October 7: Al-Aqsa Flood Vancouver for Palestine & Lebanon, 4 pm Education & Art, 7 pm Action & Rally, Vancouver Art Gallery

We will see you in the streets. If you’ve come out at any time in the past year; if you’ve been waiting to come out — now is the time.

VANCOUVER: ONE YEAR OF RESISTANCE
Time : 2:00 pm
Date: Saturday, Oct 5th
Location: Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC)

This October marks one year since our people in Gaza showed the world that the Palestinian people will continue to resist their continued dispossession and displacement by their colonizer. As we approach the one year mark of the Zionist State’s genocidal campaign on Gaza, we salute our peoples steadfastness and resistance.

In one year, the Gaza Health Ministry has released the names of over 40,000 martyrs with updated projections estimated 189,000+ martyrs. Glory to our martyrs and our prisoners who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for liberation. And yet amidst this genocide, our people in Gaza, across Palestine and all over the world remain steadfast and unwavering in our resistance. We know that resistance is the only path to victory against the Zionists, we know our people will be victorious, and we know that the Zionist entity will fall.

The struggle continues for full Palestinian liberation; freedom, sovereignty, and self-determination. Today and every day, resistance still lives, Palestine still lives, and our duty to our people still calls. Until every inch of Palestine is liberated, every refugee returns to their homeland, the siege on Gaza is lifted and every prisoner is free— the fight continues. Until victory and return. We’ll see you in the streets.

The world changed forever on Oct 7, 2023. As we approach the one-year mark of a genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and across all of Occupied Palestine, join us to learn more about Al-Aqsa Flood: The Operation and how it unmasked the Zionist entity for what it truly is.

Al-Aqsa Flood set the stage for a liberated Palestine, from the river to the sea, once and for all.

OCT 6TH – 6:30PM

REGISTRATION REQ’D – Address will be shared with registered participants! https://shorturl.at/vrbms

We look forward to seeing you there!
#fromtherivertothesea

AL-AQSA FLOOD
VANCOUVER FOR PALESTINE AND LEBANON

Monday October 7 2024
4 pm * Education and Art
7 pm * Mobilize, Rally and Act
VANCOUVER ART GALLERY

On the anniversary of Al-Aqsa Flood, as we mark 1 year of intensified genocide and 76 years of Zionist colonial genocide; we mark 1 year of intensified resistance amid over 100 years of Palestinian resistance for liberation and return.

Join us to mark one year of Al-Aqsa Flood, to uphold the Palestinian people’s heroic resistance and the Lebanese, Arab and regional resistance, and to stand for a liberated Palestine from the river to sea.

October 7 changed the world. This day made clear to all that it is possible and in fact inevitable to see a Palestine free of Zionism and a region free of imperialism. And in order to preserve their regime of plunder, colonialism and oppression, the Zionist entity and its imperialist partners – led by the US and with the full support of Canada – has launched and intensified their genocidal assault upon the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza, and is now bombing Lebanon. And yet: the Resistance continues, until return and full liberation!

This event will include political education, information booths, speakers, displays and more to learn about our heroic and victorious resistance throughout Palestine… followed by a rally and action to build our resistance here!

This event is part of a week of action for Palestinian resistance and liberation! We urge all to join the demonstration and car rally on Saturday October 5; the teach-in on Sunday October 6; and multiple additional actions and events throughout the week!

To endorse this event and the week, email us at vancouver@samidoun.net

Amid the Zionist/imperialist attack on Lebanon, Join the international mobilization to free Georges Abdallah!

29 September 2024

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese communist and Palestinian resistance fighter, was arrested by French police in Lyon on October 24, 1984. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for complicity in the execution of a Mossad agent and a member of the CIA in a trial filled with numerous irregularities. At the same time, Israel occupied Lebanon and massacred the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples throughout the assault and later, the occupation of south Lebanon.

Eligible for release under French law since 1999, Georges Abdallah is still in prison following diplomatic pressure from the USA and Israel and France’s own imperialist interests in the region. Despite his release being ordered in 2013 by the French justice system, he was kept in prison by a political decision of the Ministry of the Interior, which refused to sign off on his deportation to his homeland, Lebanon. Today, he is one of the longest-held political prisoners in Europe and has filed a new request for release that will be examined by the Court of Application of Sentences on October 7.

While the genocide in Palestine has been going on for a year and Israel is intensifying its assault on Lebanon, supporting Georges Abdallah means supporting the resistance of the Palestinian and Lebanese people for their right to live freely in their countries.

At the initiative of many organizations, campaigns and support committees , a large mobilization is being organized — as it is each year — to demand the release of Georges Abdallah, outside the Lannemezan prison where he is held. The Collectif Palestine Vaincra calls for broad participation, in particular by joining these two initiatives:

Friday October 25 at 7 p.m.

Meeting in support of Georges Abdallah and the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples with the participation of Palestinian activists, anti-imperialist organizations, Robert Abdallah (brother of Georges Abdallah — by video) and Jean-Louis Chalanset (lawyer of Georges Abdallah — subject to confirmation).

Bourse du Travail (19 place Saint Sernin, Toulouse) – Free entry – Light refreshments on site

Saturday October 26 at 2 p.m.

Demonstration in Lannemezan (65) to the prison where he is incarcerated. Departure by bus from Toulouse at a free price, meeting at 11:00 a.m. in the Basso Cambo car park in front of Quick (Basso Cambo metro – line A). To register, fill out the online form by clicking HERE

Take part in the support campaign!

Until October 26, we invite you to participate with us in various activities. In particular, you can:

Participate in postering or distributing flyers in your neighbourhood or community (download materials on Georges Ibrahim Abdallah here)
Suggest an initiative or invite us to hold an information stand during an event you are organizing
Order stickers, flags, flyers and t-shirts “Freedom for Georges Abdallah! Freedom for Palestine!” (contact the Collectif Palestine Vaincra by email )
Download the poster for the release of Georges Abdallah to print and distribute widely
Participate in the mobilization on social networks using the hashtag #FreeGeorgesAbdallah
Share the film “Fedayin, the fight of Georges Abdallah” around you, which retraces his story and that of Palestine
Register for the free-price bus to participate in the demonstration on Saturday October 26 in Lannemezan

For any request, send us an email to collectifpalestinevaincra@gmail.com or a message on our various social networks (Facebook , Twitter or Instagram).

Source: Collectif Palestine Vaincra

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: The martyrdom of a great international revolutionary leader of our era

28 September 2024

“I assure all of you: to the enemy, to the friend, to the whole world: You cannot eliminate Hezbollah, nor will you be able to eliminate the honourable resistance movements in Palestine. You will never be able to do so, because the resistance is not a conventional army, and because the resistance is, first and foremost, the people. A people who possess faith, willpower, confidence in victory, who love martyrdom, and who reject humiliation and disgrace. This is a people that no one can defeat. You may kill its men, women, children and elderly. You may destroy their buildings and homes over their heads. But you cannot defeat them. And with us as well, I assure, the resistance will not break. And the resistance will not be defeated.” – Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network mourns with the deepest respect and salutes with the highest honour the great Arab, Islamic and international leader, the lifelong struggler, the brilliant revolutionary strategist, the anti-imperialist, anti-colonial icon, the beloved of the oppressed, the military and political commander, the tireless and victorious mujahid on the road to al-Quds and the liberation of Palestine, His Eminence, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

We extend our condolences and congratulations to the Lebanese people, the Palestinian people, Hezbollah and its leadership, members and supporters, the resistance fighters on the front lines, all of the forces of resistance in the region, the revolutionary movements of the world, and his family and loved ones on the martyrdom of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, assassinated by the Zionist regime in a murderous attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, on Friday, 27 September 2024. At the moment of his martyrdom, as he did throughout his life, he was deeply engaged and devoted to the liberation of Palestine, loyal in all circumstances, continuing to fight and advance for Palestine and Lebanon, confronting to the end the Zionist entity, its U.S. imperialist directors and all of their agents in the region.

Continuous building for liberation

In 2000 and 2006 and continually until this moment, Sayyed Nasrallah and the revolutionary movement he dedicated his life to building and leading struck blow after blow against Zionism and imperialism, as the Lebanese Resistance, led by Hezbollah, liberated the south of Lebanon from Zionist occupation after nearly 20 years of struggle and victoriously confronted the Zionist assault once again in 2006. Sayyed Nasrallah was the architect of a historic liberation that ushered in a new era of Palestinian, Arab, Islamic and international struggle and broke the back of Zionism, exposing its pretenses of military superiority and eternal domination over the region. He was renowned always for his wisdom, honesty and precision, with a clear vision of the enemy’s capacities, exposing its lies and manipulations, and planning for a strategic victory.

Sayyed Nasrallah’s leadership and struggle was also directly connected to the prisoners’ movement and the liberation of the prisoners of the Zionist regime. From the liberation of Khiam prison by the victorious Lebanese resistance in 2000, liberating the torture dens of the occupiers and their collaborators and turning it into a museum of honour for those who struggled and sacrificed there, to the repeated prisoner exchanges achieved by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Resistance, including the 2004 prisoner exchange, which liberated 400 Palestinian prisoners as well as 23 Lebanese, five Syrians, three Moroccans, three Sudanese, one Libyan and one German-British prisoner jailed by the Zionist regime. These exchanges, in which Sayyed Nasrallah himself played a major role, illustrated once again that the only viable mechanism available to liberate the prisoners in occupation jails is to liberate the land and to achieve an exchange.

Anti-imperialist vision targeted by a US/Zionist aggression

He always led, spoke and analyzed with the highest clarity about the forces of the enemy faced by the Lebanese and Palestinian people, recognizing and exposing the alliance between Zionism and US imperialism, saying: “America itself is the decision maker. In America, you have the major corporations; you have a trinity of the oil corporations, the weapons manufacturers and the so-called ‘Christian Zionism.’ The decision making is in the hands of this alliance. ‘Israel’ used to be a tool in the hands of the British, and now it is a tool in the hands of America.” In April of 2024, he reiterated this statement, affirming: “The claim that the Americans cannot force Israel to do something is nonsense. According to some theories, Israel controls America. No sir. It is America that controls Israel.” He did not hesitate to confront Arab and Islamic reactionary forces working as agents and allies of imperialism and Zionism, working tirelessly instead to build a revolutionary resistance alliance and deepen even further the unbreakable bonds of blood, commitment and struggle between Lebanon and Palestine.

We must be clear: this assassination attack was also a genocidal assault on the Lebanese people, particularly the people of al-Dahiyeh, the popular cradle of the resistance. The Zionist regime dropped 83 one-ton U.S.-made bombs on residential buildings in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in the aggression. However, this was not simply an attack using U.S. weaponry. It is clear that the U.S. and its fellow imperialist powers, including Germany, France, Canada, Britain, Australia, and Italy, are full partners in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and throughout occupied Palestine and in the ongoing brutal Zionist aggression against Lebanon, including the assassination of Sayyed Nasrallah.

Indeed, US president, war criminal and genocidaire Joe Biden praised the assassination of Sayyed Nasrallah, calling it a “measure of justice for a…reign of terror.” Of course, it was Sayyed Nasrallah, his comrades in Hezbollah, in the Palestinian Resistance, in all of the resistance forces of the region who were responsible for bringing down the reign of terror of Zionism and imperialism in Lebanon and confronting it everywhere in the region. Biden further confirmed that the assassination, and indeed, the entire aggression on Lebanon, were meant to break the unshakeable alliance with the Palestinian people and their resistance, saying that “Nasrallah…made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a ‘northern front’ against Israel.” As Sayyed Nasrallah affirmed in his last speech, he met these demands with defiance and unshakeable commitment: “We will never abandon Palestine.”

Lebanon and Palestine: The Unbreakable Alliance

Indeed, Hezbollah and the Lebanese people and their Resistance joined hands with Hamas and all of the forces of the Resistance, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and all of the resistance factions and the Palestinian people as a whole, to create a major support front in the battle of Al-Aqsa Flood. And they have consistently fought to decolonize the north of Palestine, emptying it of its settlers and soldiers, in order to defend Gaza and demand an end to the genocide. It is Hezbollah, alongside the people, armed forces, and AnsarAllah movement of Yemen, and their fellow resistance forces in the regional resistance alliance, who have taken their responsibilities to prevent genocide seriously, while the imperialist powers arm, fund and indeed direct the genocidal warplanes of the Zionist entity. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah refused to allow the alliance of the support fronts to be broken, committed deeply to the liberation of al-Quds and all of Palestine, from the river to the sea, knowing that his martyrdom was possible and even likely, as was that of his son, Hadi, in the battle to liberate Lebanon in 1997.

The imperialist powers, led by the United States, continue to list Hezbollah on their so-called lists of “terrorist organizations” or “terrorist entities,” despite the fact that Hezbollah is a mass movement and political party in Lebanon, the force that achieved the liberation of Lebanese land from Zionist colonization and terror. This listing is used in an attempt to isolate, sanction and besiege the resistance, as well as to legitimize the assassination and imprisonment of its leaders and members. Listing Hezbollah and the Palestinian Resistance organizations on “terror lists” and under anti-terror laws runs entirely in contradiction with international law and the rights of people to liberate themselves from colonialism and occupation. While this has failed, of course, to crush the resistance or to isolate it from its popular cradle in Lebanon and Palestine, it continues to serve as a mechanism of repression and targeting, much like the sanctions and coercive economic measures targeting nations and states that resist U.S. imperialist domination. In fact, time and time again, the great resistance leaders targeted for assassination by the Zionist regime using US weaponry and intelligence – for example, the martyrs Ibrahim Aqil, Fouad Shukr, Saleh al-Arouri, and Ismail Haniyeh – all appear as “specially designated global terrorists” or even “most wanted” by the United States.

They Can Never Assassinate Resistance

The assassination campaign is nothing new, and it has failed miserably in an attempt to destroy the resistance. The deep faith and commitment of the resistance’s leadership has prepared them for martyrdom, and Sayyed Nasrallah, alongside every fighter for Palestine and Lebanon, carried with him the deepest willingness to sacrifice and struggle despite any price extracted. He said: “We will continue to walk this path, even if we are all killed, even if we are all martyred, even if our homes are destroyed over our heads, we will not abandon the option of Islamic resistance.”

The martyrs of the leadership ranks and the builders of Hezbollah

Sayyed Nasrallah himself was elected as the General Secretary of Hezbollah in 1992, following the Zionist assassination of Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi. The assassination of al-Musawi failed, despite the predictions of the day, to destroy Hezbollah and the Lebanese resistance; on the contrary, the resistance rose to greater strength and power, ridding the land of Lebanon of the colonial zionist forces occupying the South since 1982.

From Ibrahim Aqil to Fouad Shukr to Abbas al-Musawi, from Ismail Haniyeh to Saleh al-Arouri to Fathi Shiqaqi, Abu Ali Mustafa, Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Imad Mughniyyeh, Yahya Ayyash, Abu Jihad, Kamal ‘Udwan, Mohammed al-Najjar, Basil al-Kubaisi, Kamal Nasser, Wadie Haddad, Ghassan Kanafani, Mohammed Boudia, Basil al-Araj, Tariq Izzedine to Samir Kuntar; the Zionist regime relies on the assassination weapon against the liberation movement. However, despite these assassinations, the forces of resistance are stronger than they have ever been and the Zionist regime continues to crumble. Assassinations have little effect on the capabilities of the Resistance, for they cannot kill the ideology of resistance as it is not embodied in individual men but in the popular consciousness of the broad masses.

The martyrs, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Ismail Haniyeh, Saleh al-Arouri

As Tareq Izzedine said, “Whenever a leader ascends, ten will emerge to replace them. When a martyr ascends, 100 martyrs will emerge to replace them. The march continues, and it does not stop until the defeat of the occupation.” And as Saleh al-Arouri said, “We are martyred like our people, we are arrested as they are arrested, our homes are demolished and we are being chased and pursued. We fight because we must.”

On the road to Al-Quds, on the road to victory and liberation

The pain of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination is felt in the heart of every free human who cherishes liberation, justice and a future of dignity for all. His revolutionary honesty and clarity, brilliant strategic wisdom, and deep commitment is cherished everywhere, from the villages, cities and refugee camps of Palestine, where spontaneous marches burst into the streets at the news of his martyrdom, to the popular cradle of south Lebanon and among the Lebanese people as a whole, to those who march for Palestine and against the genocide in the centre of Johannesburg, South Africa, to a commune in Venezuela working to build popular solidarity and confront U.S. imperialism, to even the streets and campuses of the imperial core, where mass movements confront genocide, imperialism and Zionism. He represents not only himself, but the true promise of the resistance, for victory, return and liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, for the defeat of Zionism, imperialism and their reactionary agents and partners. Committed always to uplifting the oppressed, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah lived his life as a mujahid on the road to al-Quds, and a true international revolutionary leader of our time.

The Zionist and imperialist forces seek to declare an illusory “victory” or “achievement” over the Resistance through the assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the mass targeting of the Lebanese and Palestinian people. However, despite their genocidal campaigns of aerial bombing, they have been utterly unable to uproot or destroy the Resistance and its deep commitment among the people. Al-Aqsa Flood has exposed before the world the true nature of Zionism and imperialism and has made it clear that a liberated Palestine and indeed, a liberated Arab nation and a liberated region are fully possible and achievable. Despite their genocidal attempts to erase the revolution and the resistance in a sea of blood, they will never kill the resistance nor the Palestinian, Arab, Islamic and international revolution against Zionism and imperialism.

We hold the deepest confidence that the unified Resistance will ensure that the occupation is held accountable for its genocidal aggression and its cowardly assassinations. For those of us in the imperial core, this is a moment to escalate our struggle, to organize more actively, to take direct action, to fill the streets, and to make it impossible for imperialist business as usual to continue.

As the martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in his last speech, “The end of this battle will be a historic victory.” Our collective movement must, with full confidence and commitment, do everything in our power to ensure the correctness and inevitability of this statement.

This great crime will only inspire even more resistance and struggle along the path set out and exemplified by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the great leader and the great martyr, until the defeat of the Zionist regime and its imperialist partners and sponsors, until victory: the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, and the liberation of the Arab people and the region from Zionism, imperialism and their agents and collaborators.

A salute to Suzanne Le Manceau: A life in struggle for liberation, for Georges Abdallah and for Palestine

21 September 2024

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the life in struggle of Suzanne Le Manceau, co-founder of the Collective for the Liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and lifelong struggler for Palestinian liberation. Suzanne passed away on Saturday, 14 September after years of struggle with cancer. Despite her illness, she remained deeply committed to the struggle for Georges Abdallah’s — and Palestine’s — liberation. We extend our deepest condolences to all of her comrades and friends, her partner Bernard, her family and loved ones, including Georges Abdallah, who, with her passing, loses a consistent and beloved source of support and comradeship.

Suzanne attended nearly every demonstration and action, for Palestine and for social justice causes — against racism, for workers and labour rights, against police repression — carrying a red banner bearing the image and the name of Georges Abdallah, the imprisoned Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine jailed in France for 40 years. She co-founded the Collective for the Liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah in 2004, visited Georges Abdallah consistently behind prison bars and traveled to Lebanon on multiple occasions in order to visit with his family and the national campaign for his liberation there. As a committed struggler for the liberation of political prisoners, she was also a veteran of the campaign to release the prisoners of Action Directe.

She consistently supported organizers and activists in the struggle and was dedicated to a united approach to build the strongest level of support for Georges Abdallah in France and throughout Europe, confronting the unified aggression of the French state, the United States and the Zionist regime. Samidoun first met Suzanne in person in 2014, when we sent a delegation to participate in the annual march to Lannemezan Prison, where Georges Abdallah is held. This delegation was organized and coordinated by Coup Pour Coup 31, whose members, together with others, later created the Collectif Palestine Vaincra.

Every year, this demonstration draws hundreds to thousands of people from across France and Europe to demand Georges Abdallah’s immediate liberation and to advance the struggle for Palestine. Since the first Lannemezan demonstration in 2010, Suzanne read out Georges’ special statements to these actions to the crowds gathered there to support his liberation. She read out the last of these statements on 6 April at a mass demonstration outside the Lannemezan prison, with the participation of thousands:

Membre fondatrice de la campagne pour la libération de Georges Abdallah, Suzanne Le Manceau lit la déclaration de Georges Abdallah lu pour l’occasion. pic.twitter.com/XS87dSszHp

— Collectif Palestine Vaincra (@Collectif_PV) April 6, 2024

Samidoun had the honour of hosting Suzanne during one of her visits to Lebanon, in an educational event at Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp focusing on Georges Abdallah’s liberation and his connection to the continuing Palestinian struggle in Lebanon — a message that is perhaps more relevant than ever today, as Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance, confronts Zionist colonialism as a strong support front against the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and faces Zionist massacres and terror campaigns targeting the Lebanese people and their heroic Resistance.

She was known for her famous phrase: “We are part of his struggle. He is part of our fight!” a slogan that came to epitomize the broad participation of the call for Georges Abdallah’s liberation in all struggles for justice and liberation, in France, in Palestine, and internationally. Suzanne is one of the speakers in Fedayin, the film covering the life and struggle of Georges Abdallah, speaking eloquently about her involvement and the necessity of defending Georges and securing his liberation.

Suzanne lived her life with a dedication to unity and liberation, with love and joy despite the horrors of capitalism, Zionism and imperialism, and with a firm and unfailing dedication to the cause of justice.

Samidoun pledges to continue to march along her path of struggle. For all of us, we can best advance her legacy by advancing the struggle for the liberation of Georges Abdallah and for victory for Palestine. On 7 October 2024, Georges Abdallah will once again have a hearing at a sentencing court in Lannemezan, to take up his lawyer’s 10th request for his release; he has been eligible for release since 1999, and several previous judicial victories have been blocked due to direct government and political involvement. There is currently a month of actions for his release, and a mass demonstration in Lannemezan on the 40th anniversary of his arrest, at 2 pm on 26 October 2024.

Let Suzanne’s passing be a catalyst for all of us to dedicate ourselves even more strongly to the liberation of Georges Abdallah and all of his fellow political prisoners for Palestine, held in Zionist, imperialist and reactionary/PA prisons — and for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea!

Etaf Alayan: Woman of Valor for Palestine

12 September 2024

In June 2024, the International Women’s Alliance hosted its third international assembly in Penang, Malaysia, drawing hundreds of women involved in grassroots, anti-imperialist and national liberation movements around the world, including a delegation from Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network that included women from multiple chapters, including occupied Palestine. The convening brought together organizations and activists for panels, cultural events and presentations, as well as planning for the Alliance’s next steps.

As part of the Assembly, four awards were presented to Women of Valor, to women whose contributions advance liberation struggles around the world. This year, the awards were presented to: Evelyn Calugay, advocate for the labor rights of Filipino migrant women; Wilma Tiamzon, a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, brutally killed under Marcos Jr. regime in 2022; the late Anuradha Ghandi, revolutionary leader, writer and founder of the Communist Party of India; and Etaf Alayan, Palestinian former prisoner, lifelong struggler and revolutionary, whose involvement in Palestinian resistance and organizing at all levels has in many ways mirrored the trajectory of the Palestinian cause itself.

As Etaf Alayan has been subjected for years to a travel ban, a Palestinian woman from Samidoun spoke about her contributions, the situation of Palestinian women and prisoners today, and presented a video greeting from Etaf to the IWA assembly. Watch Etaf’s video below:

Text of Etaf Alayan’s comments:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

“Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought because they were wronged, and indeed, Allah is able to grant them victory.”

Allah the Almighty has spoken the truth.
To the esteemed sisters and brothers present, to the dear and hospitable country of Malaysia, my greetings to you.

Greetings to you, and Um Yusuf is still searching for her curly-haired son.

Greetings to you, and the girl is still searching for her mother, whom she recognizes by her hair among the martyrs.

Greetings to you, and the fighters are still defending their land.

Greetings to you, and a mother in Jenin buries her four martyred sons and is shy in her mourning in front of the catastrophe in Gaza.

Greetings to you, and the nails of the people of the West Bank have been clipped under Oslo, in protection of the settler herds that roam and corrupt our land.

Greetings to you, and the free women of Palestine are still being tortured in prisons but remain unsilenced.

Greetings to you, and the doors of Al-Aqsa are closed to its lovers and devotees, but open to the herds of settlers who desecrate it

Greetings to you, and the rulers of the so-called super powers bury their heads like ostriches, deaf to the truth and seeing only what the occupying entity shows them, repeating its claim of “Israel’s right to defend itself.”

Greetings to you, and the Arab rulers were castrated, with their voice nowhere to be heard.

Greetings to you, and the Islamic countries still do not see their duty towards the land that Allah has blessed and claimed to himself those who defend it, as He said: “We sent against you servants of Ours of great might.”

Greetings to you, and to the living consciences that refused to be like a herd behind their rulers, those shouting no to injustice, and demanding freedom for Palestine. These consciences will be the safety valve to their countries,
for those who cry out against injustice.. are alive.

Greetings to the unity of the fields, the happy Yemen with its decision, the proud Iraq, Iran the supporter, and the great Hezbollah, victorious by the will of Allah.

Greetings to the resistance fighters from all backgrounds in Gaza the proud, Jenin the steadfast, Tulkarem the dignified, Qabatiya the heroic, Nablus the mountain of fire, and to everyone who broke their silence to defend their land and protect their honor.

Despite all the pain and wounds that have afflicted the entire Palestinian body, our cause is not just a humanitarian issue; it is a matter of an occupied homeland, a lost right.

“And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know.”

We trust in Allah’s victory.

Greetings to the wounded Sudan, the injured Syria, and to the Philippines to Vietnam, greetings to all the oppressed peoples from the north to the south of the earth, and from east to west.

Greetings to you, and peace be upon the people of Gaza for their patience. They have indeed been afflicted as Allah said: “And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives
and livelihood, but give good tidings to the patient.”

So rejoice, O patient ones, in Allah’s victory.

Greetings to you, and peace be upon you.

Text of Samidoun’s speech at the IWA assembly in honour of Etaf Alayan:

Thank you, International Women’s Alliance, for this invitation. There are no words to express how proud I am to be here among you comrades. I’m thankful for your trust and for the chance to speak to you today.

It is an honor to stand here with you, to meet all of you and to learn from fellow fighters from all around the world. My heart aches for my people, for the children, youth, and women who are suffering immensely. The world cannot contain the rage I hold within me for the resilient Gaza, the wounded Sudan, the fighting Philippines, the joyful Yemen, South Lebanon, who answered the call, and of the rest of the free world, confronting death, colonialism, and imperialism and resisting them with a bravery and heroism that must compel us all to action.

Dear comrades and friends, my greetings come from the occupied land, a land steeped in the struggle of the Palestinian people, who prove to the world every day that Palestine, from its sea to its river, is the cause for which we live and die. My greetings also emanate from the hearts of the people who stand against imperialism, who confront capitalist and neoliberal governments that plunder our resources and our land. We are here today united in the struggle of all peoples. Calling out loud for joint struggle. My salutations go to the courageous women everywhere, raising the flags of freedom and struggle, standing for the revolutionary rebirth of their people.

Our wounds run deep today. Genocide has ravaged our people in Gaza, and the rest of the country faces a systematic silencing of its voice. They attempt to end our struggle, to eradicate our resistance, and impose an even greater siege on our prisoners, our first line of defense in the Zionist prisons. All of this under the patronage of the United States, Western imperialist governments, and complicit, reactionary Arab regimes.

We are not deterred by these crimes. We are the inheritors of a legacy of resilience, of a history etched with the blood of martyrs who have paved the way for our liberation. We are the torchbearers of hope, the embodiment of the unwavering spirit and practice of resistance. The Palestinian people will not be silenced. Our voices will echo through the corridors of power, demanding justice and accountability. We will continue to fight for our freedom, for the liberation of all oppressed people, and for a world free from imperialism, colonialism, and exploitation.

Palestine has always been central to the global struggle against imperialism, because of the political depth of the Palestinian cause, and what it represents. The Zionist movement, a product of imperialist ideology that has been supported by Western powers from its inception, a movement that adopted the tool of settler colonialism to oppress and seize Palestine, was able to transform Palestine into the central imperialist base in the heart of the Arab nation. It seeks to erase Palestinian existence, expel Palestinians from their land, and expand its economic and political relations to dominate the region, which aligns completely with western imperialist interests.

Since the establishment of their colonial state. the colonial project of erasing Palestinian existence has been ongoing, their systematic expulsion, followed by the theft of Palestinian Arab heritage and culture, all while maintaining a controlled presence of Palestinians on the land to exploit them and boast at the same time in front of the world a blood-stained, false democracy. Palestinians in occupied Palestine live today in what cannot be described as anything but ghettos, a system well-known to imperialism: unwanted people must be completely controlled, policed, and isolated.

Starting with the resilient Gaza, its people, and its heroic resistance that has proven to the world that our right to our land will not be lost, Gaza today has changed the world. It has contributed to redefining the concept of solidarity and has exposed the depth of the crime of the Zionist project funded by the United States and the West. It has restored the balance of the struggle to its natural state, affirming the right of peoples to freedom from the clutches of colonialism and imperialism.

In Gaza today, the number of known martyrs has approached 38,000, including more than 10,000 women. Over two million people are displaced and living in tents, and more than 2,500 are prisoners: to those we only know of their estimate number, we have no names or knowledge of their situation, prison conditions, locations or the prisons they are held in. In Gaza, schools and universities have been wiped out, hospitals bombed, people buried under the rubble, and lately it was revealed that the barbaric Zionist enemy has been burying people in mass graves after subjecting them to brutal torture. For more than nine months, the sounds of bombs and destruction have been continuous. For nine months, no one in Gaza has been able to sleep, and women are suffering indescribable conditions, from displacement in tents to a lack of basic health supplies, and a complete absence of healthcare for 60,000 pregnant women. Diseases are spreading uncontrollably due to the targeting of the health sector and placing it under constant fire. All of this is happening amidst killing, torture, bombing, and destruction.

The story of Gaza did not begin in October. Gaza has been under siege for over 17 years, enduring continuous wars in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2021. It has been economically and socially besieged, with its people imprisoned in their own land, deprived of life and dreams. The dream of the martyr journalist Yaser Murtaja was to capture an aerial picture of Gaza. The paramedic Razan al-Najjar, a flower who loved flowers, was martyred while treating injuries, shot down by a sniper’s bullet. Thousands of faces and names each have their own stories, lives, and dreams. Today, in just nine months, more than 38,000 stories have been buried, each with dreams, names, and lives that could not withstand the Zionist killing machine, while human rights organizations and the international community stand by as spectators. And we will not forgive.

In the West Bank, there has been 544 martyrs since October, preceded by hundreds in recent years, along with a suffocating economic blockade. This is in addition to the targeting of the refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm, Aqabat Jabr, and the siege of the old city in Nablus, and the repeated military aggressions against Tubas, mirroring the same scenes of total destruction of homes and streets, the erasure of neighborhoods, and the pursuit and assassination of resistance fighters. Settlers are armed and roam the streets, killing everything that is alive. Meanwhile, settlement activity, which has plundered the West Bank, has increased undeterred at an unprecedented rate.

At the same time, the Palestinian Authority acts as a partner to the occupation and a diligent worker for it, suppressing and killing protesters, filling its prisons with political prisoners, performing its duties in service to Zionist and imperialist domination in the best possible way, and dedicating all its capabilities to ending any form of resistance against the occupation in exchange for financial interests obtained from the occupation for its services.

In the territories occupied in 1948, since the start of the war on Gaza, the occupation has instilled terror, disrupting the lives of Palestinians through widespread prosecutions and mass arrests, with several years long prison sentences for anyone who tries to speak up against the war and death in Gaza. This is in addition to pursuing them at their workplaces, expelling students from universities, and threatening and inciting against the Palestinian population.

As for the prison battle, it is unprecedented. Today, the number of prisoners exceeds 9,500 from the West Bank and the occupied territories, while only 2,500 prisoners from Gaza are known. Since October 7, the occupation has hidden their status, numbers, names, and locations, and we know only a little from the horrifying testimonies of released prisoners. They recounted barbaric torture, abuse, and murder, with mass graves discovered containing the bodies of martyrs returned from detention, handcuffed, with no part of their bodies free from torture marks. Some survived by a miracle after having their limbs amputated due to the chains that bound them. Testimonies of prisoners who were forced to choose between their right or left feet for amputation. Others witnessed the killing of their families in front of them. In secret prisons, some images were leaked showing the atrocities committed by the Zionist enemy against Palestinian prisoners from Gaza, including multiple daily headcounts, chaining them day and night in desert rooms devoid of any basic necessities, some half-naked and others wearing the same clothes since their arrest months ago. Moreover, diseases are rampant among them, and they are deprived of food and water, causing some to emerge as skeletal figures covered in bruises.

What does it mean to be in Zionist prisons today? It means no food, no medicine, no water, no blankets, no clothes, and no books. The occupation has stripped the prisoner movement of all its possessions and isolated them completely from the outside world. There are no radios in most prisons, no family visits in any prisons, and they are also deprived of lawyer visits for many months. Families do not know what is happening with their sons and daughters, and the prisoners do not know what is happening with their families except through new prisoners being brought in. Those who are released emerge in a state barely recognizable to their families. They describe repeated raids on their rooms, with smoke and sound bombs thrown at them, and being beaten up by hundreds of soldiers in their closed, cramped rooms. They are piled on top of each other in cells, unable to sleep on the floor because the occupation has taken away their mattresses and blankets. Today, the number of administrative detainees has reached approximately 3,500 under the pretext of having secret files against them. And despite all of this, they are not broken; it has only increased their determination to resist and revolt.

The Palestinian prisoners’ movement and the heroic armed resistance of Palestine, together with the forces of resistance throughout the region, stretching from Yemen to Lebanon to Syria, Iraq, Iran and beyond, are exposing, humiliating and bringing down Zionism and imperialism. Despite the torture and the genocide, they remain charting a dignified path of victory.

From the struggles of the prisoner movement, the idea was born to establish Samidoun, Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, to be their voice in the world, to tell their stories of struggle and heroism. Their sacrifices for the Palestinian revolution and national liberation are the reason the Palestinian struggle is alive to this day. Because of their blood and sacrifices behind bars, we are now present in 14 countries with 20 branches around the world, united with the struggle of the prisoners movement to convey their message to the world. They, along with the Palestinian resistance, are the first line of defense for our just national cause, and our duty is to free them from captivity. This is not just our duty alone; it is a mission that falls on all the free people of the world. There is no freedom from imperialism without the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea and the return of the refugees.

Today, our friends are imprisoned in Damon Prison in the Carmel Mountains of Haifa, a city we dream of seeing its sea and breathing the fresh air of its mountains without restrictions. The occupation has taken from us Layan Kayed, Layan Nasser, Yara Abu Hashish, Diala Ayesh, Doha Maadi, Amal Shujaiya, Shahd Owaida, comrade Khalida Jarrar, and our mother Hanan Barghouti, among others — there are today over 74 female prisoners from the West Bank and the occupied land in 1948. We do not know how many women from Gaza are in the enemy’s prisons. Today, they are one of many stories of Palestinian women and heroines of the Palestinian prisoner movement. We salute them from here and promise them that imprisonment will end. Their resilience gives us the strength to continue, and the prison bars only increase their determination and longing for freedom.

We are here today to honor a liberated Palestinian prisoner whose history is a lesson in dignity, and whose life is a book from which we learn steadfastness and resilience: Etaf Alayan, a refugee from the village of Khulda in the Ramle district. Etaf joined the Palestinian revolution in her early youth and received military training in the use of weapons and explosives in the training camps in Beirut. She was active on national, social, and institutional levels, chairing the Al-Nuqaa Islamic Women’s Association between 1997 and 2020, where she opened a kindergarten and school in 2002, and a center for daily surgical operations during the second Intifada. She visited the families of martyrs and prisoners, was a member of the Association of Women Imprisoned for Freedom, and a member of the Jerusalem Center for Literature. Her life in struggle has mirrored the development of the Palestinian national liberation struggle, from her days in the Fateh movement to her role as one of the earliest fighters of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, through the prisoners’ movement and an unending commitment to the liberation of Palestine, its people and its land.

As for her life journey, she was arrested a week before the planned execution of her operation, and a few days after the arrest of the person responsible for preparing the car bomb in August 1987, which was intended to target the Zionist Prime Minister’s office in occupied Jerusalem. She underwent severe interrogation for over forty days at the Moskobiya interrogation center in occupied Jerusalem. She started her first hunger, thirst, and speech strike for 12 days to protest the mistreatment by Zionist interrogators and the threats she faced. The occupation courts sentenced her to five years in prison, with an additional ten years added for her involvement in confronting a Zionist prison guard in Ramla prison. She went on a hunger strike again to demand her transfer from Abu Kabir prison to Ramla prison. The Zionist Prison Authority isolated her for four years, during which she faced harassment related to family visits and the confiscation of her belongings. She went on a 34-day hunger strike to break her isolation, managed to return to the general sections, and joined the prisoner’s movement strike in 1992. She was released in February 1997.

The occupation re-arrested her in October 1997, placing her under administrative detention. She immediately went on a hunger strike in protest and won her freedom. She was re-arrested for her activities in the Al-Nuqaa Charitable Association for nine months in 2002 and again at the end of 2005 for opening a surgical operations center and providing services to those wanted by the occupation and injured during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. She remained in prison until 2008, spending one year in administrative detention. She declared a hunger strike to have her infant daughter admitted to her in 2006, managing to embrace her daughter inside the prison for a year and a half. The occupation has banned her from traveling since her very first arrest in 1987. Since her liberation, she has continued to struggle ceaselessly for the liberation of Palestine and of the prisoners, including for the liberation of the bodies of the martyrs, the hundreds held captive by the Zionist regime even after death.

This rich history teaches us that the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea is the inevitable end. This history gives us a glimpse into the lives and sacrifices of Palestinian women. We wish Etaf could be with us today, but the continuous pursuit by the Zionist enemy prevents her from leaving the country. Therefore, I leave you with some words and a special message from her.

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