Democratic Palestine : 24 (ص 17)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 24 (ص 17)
- المحتوى
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Highlights of Palestinian Struggle
The Fedayeen Rule the Gaza Strip
The revolutionary experience accumulated in struggle is one if not the most valuable asset of the people
striving for freedom. In occupied Palestine, armed struggle is the fundamental form whereby revolu-
tionary vanguards confront the Zionist enemy. The experience gained through the practice of armed
struggle should be documented and shared with our friends around the world. This article was compiled
through discussions with comrade Hassan, a Palestinian militant who participated actively in the armed
struggle against the Zionist troops in the first years after the 1967 occupation of the Gaza Strip. We hereby
continue the series begun in the last issue of Democratic Palestine with the accounts of the 1976 hunger
strike in Ashkelon prison and of a woman’s participation in the resistance in the Gaza Strip. We plan to
continue articles about highlights of Palestinian struggle in coming issues. Below comrade Hassan tells his
story:
I was born in 1951, one year before President Nasser’s
revolution in Egypt. (The Gaza Strip was at that time under
Egyptian administration). I was brought up in a patriotic en-
vironment. Some of my relatives were in the Arab National
Movement (to which the PFLP traces its roots). At school, we
were taken to visit the tomb of the unknown soldier (a Palesti-
nian who fell in the 1959 Israeli-British-French attack on
Egypt). We also participated in the lectures and political ac-
tivities organized by the Arab National Movement. Such was
the atmosphere until 1967, at which time I was 16 years old and
in the 9th grade. Prior to the 1967 war, there were prepara-
tions that the masses participated in, helping the Egyptian ar-
my. We would go and help the army fortify its positions. Dur-
ing the work, we heard the government radio broadcasts which
made people believe that a liberation war was coming. I was
anxious for the war to break out so we could return to
Palestine.
GAZA ATTACKED
When the war started, my father was in Khan Younis, 25 km
away from Jabalia camp where we lived. He had to walk that
distance to reach us. The Zionist army went into the Sinai first,
and then returned to conquer the Gaza Strip. They started their
bombardment. Jabalia was bombed fiercely. It was the first
bombing I had ever witnessed. Our house was hit by two
bombs. My father was killed and nearly all the family sustain-
ed injuries. I was injured in the leg. My brother, mother and
one year old nephew were injured. My aunt was pregnant; she
was hit and gave birth prematurely. My uncle’s wife who had
come to our house for shelter was killed. After the raid I was
bleeding, and one of our neighbors came to the house and took
me to the hospital. The hospital was only equipped for first
aid, and there were about fifty of us there.
The Zionists came to the hospital looking for soldiers. It was
the first time in my life I had seen any Jews. They looked at us.
When they were sure that we were all injured civilians, they
left. We thought they were going to murder us. They ordered
us transported to the hospital in Gaza city. The most serious
cases were selected, and I was among them. The convoy was
surrounded by the occupation forces’ vehicles. At the hospital,
I was asked if I would accept having my foot amputated. I
replied that I would prefer death. The doctors’ policy was
making amputations to reduce the work load.
My mother used to come and visit me in the hospital. She
had to walk 30 km because civilian transportation had been
halted by the occupation forces. That meant that my nine
brothers and sisters, six of them younger than me, were left
alone. Though her back had been injured, my mother refused
to be hospitalized, because she wanted to take care of the
family, especially since my father had been killed. We had to
bury him in the yard of the house - that was the only option
during the war.
I left the hospital after four months. My family had been
forced to move to another house, and our situation was very
difficult. My father had been a worker before his martyrdom.
My brother was a policeman, but he quit his job after the oc-
cupation, so he was unemployed. The UNRWA allowed new
examinations after the occupation, so I took my 9th grade ex-
ams and passed.
RESISTANCE GROWS
In 1968, the Palestinian resistance began military operations
against the Zionist forces in the Gaza Strip. After our ex-
perience of defeat and occupation, the sound of each bullet was
like a shout of salvation. Our knowledge that the enemy was
suffering losses raised our morale greatly. I used to imagine the
fedayeen (resistance fighters) as men of iron. By this time, the
Arab National Movement had been restructured, its radical
Palestinian forces having formed the PFLP. Nobody knew the
identity of the fedayeen, not even their own families. I hoped
to see a fedayee, so that I could help him and thus join the
resistance. At that time, a friend asked me to join the Palesti-
nian Students’ Union which was a secret organization; its ac-
tivities were limited to distributing handbills and staging
strikes. A friend brought a hand grenade and asked me to help
Start a strike. Our plan was to throw the grenade in the market
to cause the shops to close down, signalling a strike. We threw
the grenade and the shops closed, but the father of one of our
friends was injured.
I found out that a friend of mine was in the Popular Libera-
tion Forces (PLF), the guerrilla wing of the PLO’s Palestine
Liberation Army. Then I realized that the fedayee was one of >
17 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 24
- تاريخ
- مايو ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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