Over the past two years, and ever since mostly European settlers began to claim control over their land, Palestinians, especially those confined to Gaza, have demonstrated what determination, resilience and sacrifice look like. What other options does one have when faced with genocidal maniacs in tanks and war planes? When artificially manufactured hunger, grief and displacement become synonyms with every-day? What does it teach those of us in the imperial core about choice?
Every child born in Palestine is seen as a threat in the eyes of zionism, not because of anything they might do (and they have a right to do anything to resist occupation), but because the child stands in the way of expansionist policies that are fundamental to settler-colonialism and, therefore, the existence of the occupying power. Zionism then materialises as a giant military base cloaked in a complex web of lies legitimising its existence. It is a global laboratory using genocide and occupation to test weapons, develop surveillance technology and export know-how in violence. Palestinians fighting for the liberation of their homeland teach us that all pillars of zionism need to be dismantled, many of which are outside the boundaries of so-called Israel. The weapon factories on the outskirts of our towns and cities, their ties to the state, and the economic, political and military support for the occupation by the elite. An increasingly militarised world relies on the zionist occupation as much as the zionist entity relies on military support from the imperial core.
Therefore, we in the Global North and benefiting from the status quo in some shape or form, must aspire to embody the steadfastness of Palestinians. Not to simply consume and iconise their resistance. We must strive to be as principled as Gaza’s old and young, proudly claiming they would rather accept martyrdom than abandon their land. We have a duty to resist wherever we are, weaponising everything at our disposal. The sacrifices I pay, for allegedly disrupting the genocidal system, are incomparable to the sacrifices paid by Palestinians and all people directly exposed to imperial violence. My whiteness and class status protect me from the worst of the British prison system. I often think of Palestinian prisoners in zionist torture dungeons, of my comrades punished for their faith, with imprints of fascist tendencies, that mature in British prisons, on their skin. We stand united by our desire for freedom. Shared, collective freedom, One that can only be achieved through relentless struggle. One that demands nothing short of justice.
It is with these principles in mind that I join a collective, open-ended hunger strike demanding cessation of all operations by Elbit Systems UK; immediate unconditional bail for all Prisoners for Palestine imprisoned before trial; right to a fair trial which can’t be conducted without the disclosure of all foreign and political interference in our cases; complete end to the use of terrorism legislation against those acting to stop a genocide; and an immediate end to censorship of all communication to and from prisons.
The establishment, our jailers, and even some people I hold close to my heart might call out hunger strike unreasonable. They might say it’s an escalation that is crossing a line. The same line that gets brought up every time the status quo is threatened. The line allegedly crossed on the 6th August when six people smashed up drones and other military equipment inside Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, in Filton, Bristol. The line that was said to be crossed on the 20th of June, after two military aircraft were put out of commission at RAF Brize Norton. Military aircraft that were regularly departing for RAF Akrotiri, from where British planes were (/are?) send to gather intelligence over Gaza. The line that gets crossed every time Palestinians dare to resist their occupiers. Let me be clear, there is nothing unreasonable about demanding justice. The line has been crossed many times, not by those isolated in prison cells. It was crossed on the 2nd of Nov 1917 when the then British Foreign Secretary, Lord Balfour, promised Palestine to foreign settlers. It has been crossed by so-called leaders with monopoly on power, by people sitting on boards of weapon factories. By every surveillance flight sent over Gaza and every weapon shipped to massacre Palestinians.
Our struggle is moral and righteous. There is a long history of collective hunger strikes in prisons and many comrades inside and outside prisons by our side. I begin my hunger strike with love in my heart, love for the cause, for Palestine, for my co-defendants, the Filton 24, the PMJ prisoners, the Ulm 5, Casey Goonan and Malik Muhammad imprisoned in the US, the thousands of Palestinian prisoners and millions imprisoned globally. Our victory will be a collective one.