[News] Sumud: The unyielding heart of the Palestinian cause in Gaza

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Sumud: The unyielding heart of the Palestinian cause in Gaza
By Ramzy Baroud <https://english.palinfo.com/?p=250012>

Sunday 22-June-2025 -
https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/sumud-the-unyielding-heart-of-the-palestinian-cause-in-gaza/

The profound and unrelenting struggles endured by Palestinians should, by
any rational expectation, have irrevocably concluded the Palestinian cause.
Yet, the struggle for freedom in Palestine is at its zenith. How is one to
explain this?

Attempts aimed at the erasure of Palestine, the Palestinian people, and
their cause go back well over a century. This encompasses the historical
and ongoing impacts of the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent Mandate
period, which ushered in an era of extreme violence, systemic suppression,
and the imposition of harsh emergency regulations.

The devastating Nakba – the catastrophic destruction of the Palestinian
homeland – was followed by the enactment of new emergency laws and the
widespread dispersal of several Palestinian generations into the Shattat
(diaspora).

A relentless cycle of constant war, new occupations, and persistent ethnic
cleansing has been further compounded by a pervasive lack of international
action and sustained Arab solidarity, exacerbated by the presence of
corrupt Palestinian elites.

This litany of suffering extends to countless Israeli massacres, escalating
violence, the relentless expansion of settlements, widespread destruction,
and the recurring demolition of homes.

The protracted Gaza siege, marked by war after war, has now culminated in
the ongoing genocide.

Yet, despite this comprehensive and overwhelming accumulation of
adversities, the Palestinian cause not only endures but persists with an
unwavering spirit. This remarkable and enduring resilience is most
profoundly understood through the concept of sumud.


*The indomitable spirit of sumud*Sumud transcends mere steadfastness; it
represents a profound and deeply ingrained cultural phenomenon rooted in
defiance, historical consciousness, unwavering faith, spirituality, the
strength of family bonds, and the cohesion of community.

The language of sumud is remarkably pervasive and rich, manifesting
eloquently in poetry, intricate storytelling, Quranic verses, and the
compelling terminology of revolution. Words such as sumud itself, Muqawama
(resistance), Hurriyya (freedom), Thawra (revolution), Hatta Akher Nuqtat
Dum (to the last drop of blood), and even the very word Falasteen
(Palestine) are imbued with profound and multifaceted significance.

For countless children growing up in Gaza, like myself, the simple, yet
powerful, act of writing the word Falasteen on sand, in every text book, or
on one’s own hand serves as a foundational and deeply personal experience.

Therefore, any truly genuine comprehension of Palestine must be
meticulously shaped by the authentic language and the lived experiences of
Palestinians themselves, with particular emphasis on those residing in Gaza.

This imperative necessitates a deliberate shift in focus, moving away from
historical documents like the Balfour Declaration or the Nation-State Law.
Instead, understanding must authentically emerge from the narratives of
pivotal figures such as Izz al-Din al-Qassam, Abdul Qader al-Husseini,
Akram Zeiter, and Ghassan Kanafani, extending all the way to the fighting
Palestinians in Gaza, their innocent children, their courageous
journalists, their dedicated doctors, and their ordinary people.


*Gaza: The unyielding heart of the Palestinian story*One might be inclined
to perceive this perspective as sentimental. However, it stands as a clear
articulation of a long-held conviction that Gaza occupies the indisputable
core of the Palestinian story, its historical trajectory, and its future
destiny.

This is not an emotional plea but a profound recognition of a harsh and
unyielding living reality: Gaza has borne the brunt of the most severe
manifestations of Israeli occupation, apartheid, siege, war, violence,
ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

Crucially, it is also the place where resistance has never ceased, not for
a single moment. This fact alone is sufficient to establish Gaza as the
most critical and undeniable component in the entire intricate history of
the so-called conflict.

The Israeli genocide unfolding in Gaza is not merely an act of collective
punishment. Rather, it originates from a deeply distorted and chilling
Israeli perception of reality: that the Palestinian people themselves, and
not a specific ideology, a particular group of individuals, or a defined
organization, constitute the very heart and soul of the Palestinian cause.

Consequently, the perceived sole method for thoroughly decimating the
resistance is through the mass killing of the people and the subsequent
ethnic cleansing of the survivors. If Israel, in its twisted and profoundly
criminal way, has managed to grasp this horrifying understanding, then it
becomes equally imperative that we, too, fully comprehend this fundamental
concept.


*Forging a new understanding of Palestine*Therefore, a new and
transformative understanding of Palestine is not just desirable but
absolutely imperative. This understanding must unequivocally center
Palestinian voices that genuinely reflect the sentiments, wishes, feelings,
aspirations, and the authentic popular politics of ordinary people.

It is crucial that not just any Palestinian voice will suffice, nor will
any narrative do. This deliberate and focused approach will also help to
liberate the word sumud, and all adjacent terminology, from being dismissed
as merely fleeting sentimental language, thereby elevating it to the very
heart of our collective discourse.

Palestinians, like all native populations engaged in a just struggle for
freedom, should be unequivocally entrusted with the custodianship of their
own discourse. They are not a liability to that discourse; they are not
marginal actors within it; they are, in fact, the undeniable main
characters.

Within an astonishing 600 days, Palestinians in Gaza, largely cut off,
isolated, and targeted for extermination, have managed to expose Zionism
more comprehensively and effectively than all the cumulative work
undertaken over the course of an entire century.

This monumental achievement, too, is a direct byproduct of their profound
sumud.

It is now time to critically revisit our language of solidarity with
Palestine, consciously liberating it from our own ideological, political,
and often personal priorities, and decisively reshaping it based solely on
the authentic priorities of the Palestinians themselves.

*-Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of the Palestine Chronicle.
He is the author of five books. His latest is ‘These Chains Will Be Broken:
Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons’. Baroud is
a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global
Affairs (CIGA) and also at the Afro-Middle East Center (AMEC).*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20250623/dde766e8/attachment.htm>