To those who have stood with dignity,
From all of us who are separated, and cannot stand there beside you.
Peace to you,
Those watching from across the planet are seeing horrors unfolding on the Palestinian people, on the people of the Congo, the people of Sudan, Western Sahara, etc., (some) feel a great shame and grief at the sight and thought of the pain endured by you. Others stand resolutely atop your throats and backs, aiming to destroy you. Those who want to stand with you, who are either geographically or otherwise separated from you, feel a great shame that they have not stood firmly with you, as the people of Yemen, and the resistance forces throughout West Asia and North Africa have.
Many cannot speak of such an experience you are living today, cannot even dream it up; those who have experienced this suffering firsthand want only an end, and an assurance that no one else will ever experience this again.
Incredibly, it is those who are facing some of the worst experiences that humankind has to offer, who are the ones fighting back against this suffering the most courageously.
What those who are fighting are saying with their actions is something that few of us have the ability to say in words, "I want liberation!"
Liberation is not just a word, it is a generational process. It is steps, it is planning, it is strategy, it is education. Liberation is a pathway to victory that can only be achieved through the collective action of the people, which you, the freedom fighters, have shown and witness everyday. It is the entire people of Palestine who are fighting, in their own ways, not just those with guns. Because liberation is not just warfare, it is not just battles between armed forces- it is battles of ideas, battles of organization, battles of existence, of creation, recreation, and revolution. Revolution, liberation, whatever it may be called, is a series of calculated and practical actions connected together with a theory, constant reflection, and unity building among those forces willing to aid and assist where they can.
You who are fighting are not alone,
though in many ways you are - these are your battles -
no one can fight for you, just as you cannot fight for me.
And yet,
against all odds
you do fight for me.
For all of us.
You,
the freedom fighters,
armed with not only weapons but knowledge.
Knowledge of the truth, of history, of the path forward,
of the need for sharing this knowledge,
and especially
knowledge that it is only through
unrelenting
unceasing
struggle
that anyone has achieved their freedom.
1/5/2024