jordan pulse -
Written by : Rajai Muasher
Resistance against occupation and colonialism, including settler colonialism, is one of the most important and noble practices in the history of nations. Resistance is the natural response to foreign presence on homeland soil, aiming to reclaim rights, freedom, and sovereignty for the nation. Resistance against the occupier is also a right guaranteed by international treaties and laws.
Resistance against the occupier takes various forms, including armed resistance, peaceful resistance, economic resistance, cultural resistance, and media resistance. Each of them employs practical and scientific means and methods to achieve its goals. However, armed resistance throughout modern history has sometimes been labeled as terrorism because it utilizes all available means and methods to achieve its objective of freedom and sovereignty. Some of these methods may lead to civilian casualties among the occupiers, condemned by the international community, but it’s a difficult aspect to avoid for maximizing impact on the occupying state.
“Some liberation movements from colonialism or slavery adopted peaceful resistance to achieve their goals, such as the liberation of India from British colonialism led by Gandhi and the liberation of African Americans from the American racist system led by Martin Luther King. Economic resistance in the apartheid state of South Africa supported the armed struggle of South Africans, ultimately ending racial rule and leading to the majority African leadership under Nelson Mandela.”
Most resistance movements against occupation use all forms of resistance to achieve their goals, as each contributes to achieving the objective.
The Palestinian resistance is the struggle against the Zionist entity’s occupation of Palestinian territories. It is a noble activist movement seeking to regain sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian land. It has the right to use all resistance methods to achieve its goals, a right guaranteed by international treaties, including the United Nations Charter and other international norms.
The Palestinian resistance didn't start with what happened on October 7th last year in 2023, and it won't end there. It is a Palestinian struggle that began against British colonization in the 1920s and 1930s. Notable uprisings include the 1920 revolution against the British and Jews, marked by popular uprising, protests, and some violent events.
The 1929 Buraq Revolution opposed British mandate, aiming to protect the sacred Jerusalem sanctuary.
The 1936 Palestinian uprising was against British mandate, demanding Palestinian independence and an end to Jewish migration to the region.
After the establishment of the Zionist entity, the Palestinian uprisings persisted, especially after the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, marked by Israeli settlement activities on Palestinian lands. The notable contemporary uprising was the First Intifada in 1987, where children and youth stood against the occupation forces using stones. Subsequently, the Second Intifada, known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, occurred in 2000, and since then, liberation movements in Gaza and the West Bank have continued until today.”
The Palestinian resistance is the right of the Palestinian people to attain their full rights in their independent state with its capital, Jerusalem. Military struggle alone cannot liberate the land and homeland without political action accompanied by garnering international support. Resistance also requires building media capabilities to convey its message to the world, emphasizing that what is happening in Palestine is the right of the Palestinian people to resist the Israeli occupation of their lands. It is not what the Western world claims, justifying Israel’s defense against the Palestinians who are occupied. The second message is to refute the Israeli claim that this is a religious war; it is a liberation war, not a religious one, directed against the Zionists seeking to turn religion into nationalism to justify the establishment of the state of Israel, not against Jews who lived in peace with Arabs and Muslims for centuries.