Freedom is their Hunger, Faith is their Food
by Gareebah
Humans, in order to pursue a normal life in this world, require a few basic needs to be met at all costs, without which life loses its significance, and which occasionally become more crucial than life itself. Then again, the needs of the body differ from those of the soul, and when the two of them come into contrast, histories are created.
The soul feeds on beliefs just like the body feeds on eatables, and it hungers for freedom as the body hungers for food. Living nations and people strive to strengthen their souls so much so that they outlive the natural duration of their physical life on the planet. They write golden histories with their blood and live forever as a model for generations to come.
One such nation is that of the Palestinians whose belief, in their Lord and in the soil they were born to, has rendered them unbreakable in the face of oppression and injustice. Their souls have fed on the irrevocable belief in the truth of their faith, and the unalterable surety of their legitimacy on their land; so much so that their bodies have worked wonders and the world has seen them fighting all sorts of adversities for the past many decades. Their love for their nationhood and their hunger for freedom has made them stand in the face of their Oppressor with their heads high on bruised bodies and a ‘No’ on their dry lips.
As long as the soul is hungry, it will never let the body rest and will forever deprive the oppressors of any rest or sleep too. Their hunger for freedom cannot be quenched if it is offered within confinement and at the hands of the Oppressor. Thus, their hungry soul proves to be the strongest weapon hidden within their weak and hungry body; a weapon that could not be detected or targeted with high-tech predator gadgetry. It is this hunger that has radicalized the otherwise peaceful and loving people; it has created bloodshed and unrest and has given them the power to write history.
Oppression begets resistance, even if it means fighting with no weapons but one’s own soul and faith. If the birth rights of a people are attacked, their homeland cruelly occupied, their food supplies cut, or their lands confiscated and homes demolished; it is only obvious that they retaliate and fight back with all that they have, even if it means ultimately belonging to no country at all, losing the few left over crumbs provided by the oppressors, or losing the tiny piece of land allowed to them by the tyrants.
For living nations, the single viable option and only way to face oppression is Struggle. There are no pseudo-solutions; all humiliating options have to be rejected. There have indeed been nations through history that have settled with alternative options whatsoever, with the sole goal of remaining alive. If their lands were trespassed upon, they left them and trespassed upon others’ lands in turn. But it cannot be so with a living nation of the 21st century, wherein international law renders the boundaries of existing nations as ultimate and unalterable, the only option now is to fight for their rights and resist oppression till the end of it or their own lives. A living example can be seen in the form of a nation, the people of which live with their heads high and are ready to die to keep it high. The longer the struggle proves to be, the more they sacrifice in terms of life and loved ones, the more determined they become.
Samer Al-Issawi is one name of this faith; the faith and love for their people and their land that gives them the strength to go on, through hardships and obstacles, sacrificing the basic needs of the body for the higher needs of the soul. It is what makes a man endure hunger and thirst for more than 250 days. It is what makes an individual stand up for the freedom and rights of the whole of humanity; while humanity remains oblivious to his plight and that of his nation.
Samer Al-Issawi is a Palestinian who was sentenced to 30 years in Israeli prisons, for the crime of fighting for the freedom of his brethren from the clutches of the Israeli occupation; but was later released through a presidential pardon as part of a deal involving the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. However, he was arrested again last year on charges of travelling from a city to another. To protest this illegal detention, following a deal that was supposed to act as an amnesty for him; he began a hunger strike on the 1st of August last year. Moreover, his family has been harassed and subjected to physical torture and hardships. His siblings have been arrested, jailed and banned from attending their brothers’ hearing in the court.
But Samer continues his hunger strike, in spite of impaired mental and physical abilities, through the loss of sight and sound. He continues through more than 250 days, to protest the illegal Israeli detention of him and others. He goes hungry to record a rejection to oppression, to denounce injustice and tyranny, and to fight through all odds but preserve his identity and the realization of his birth rights. He continues through inhuman treatment by the Israeli forces, who have beaten him and mistreated him while he was on a wheelchair.
He uses hunger as the last stone he can throw, and vows to fight till he sees one of the two lights – freedom or martyrdom! He offers his soul as the weapon through which he fights for all his brethren. He asks them not to worry if his heart stops beating or his hand stops moving, he will live through his death forever, in the hearts of many who share his dreams and aspirations. He will live forever because his nation lives in his blood!
One Samer Al Assawi has put the dire question upon our weary consciences; the fallen conscience of humanity; he asks us, has all the 21st Century knowledge and technology made it easier for man to live a rightful/respectable life or has the opposite of this been its goal? He put the question upon our souls; what more do we need to be moved and shaken? Is Samer’s being ‘on the verge of sudden death’ not enough for us to come to the answer of his plight yet, what more proof do we need?
Ghareebah is dong her Masters in English , a passionate Indian Muslimah, in search of higher truths.