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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://mondoweiss.net/2024/10/our-freedom-is-close-why-these-young-palestinian-men-choose-armed-resistance/?ml_recipient=136256203503175366&ml_link=136256198320064222&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2024-10-27&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+RSS+Automation">mondoweiss.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">‘Our freedom is close’: why these young Palestinian men choose armed resistance</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Adam Horowitz</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">October 25, 2024<br></div>
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<img src="cid:ii_m2rpvrxe1" alt="631A7834-1536x1024.jpg" width="464" height="309"><br><p>Last month, I met the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades — part of the broader <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/the-tulkarem-brigades-men-in-the-sun-resist-in-search-of-freedom/">Tulkarem Brigade</a>
— in an alley in Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern occupied West
Bank. Ghaith Radwan greeted me with a slight smile and confident eyes,
which did little to hide his evident caution. He and a number of
resistance fighters in Tulkarem refugee camp welcomed me and the group
of journalists for a brief interview to talk about the one-year
anniversary of October 7. The young fighter, with his rifle in his lap,
told us about why he chose to fight the Israeli army.</p>
<p>Ghaith, only 27 years old, told us about how he joined the ranks of
the resistance in Tulkarem refugee camp over the past year. He talked
about how, after October 7, his dream of traveling freely throughout
Palestine without checkpoints was no longer a faint hope. </p>
<p>“Everyone has the ambition to be free,” he said. “To walk around like
in any independent country without finding a PA checkpoint a few meters
ahead and an Israeli checkpoint after that, and beyond that, settlers
attacking.” </p>
<p>“We are living inside a prison,” he explained.</p>
<p>Not long after we met, on Thursday, October 3, Ghaith was one among 20 Palestinians who were <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2024/10/bodies-shredded-into-pieces-unprecedented-israeli-airstrike-in-west-bank-kills-20-including-entire-family/">killed by an Israeli airstrike on a residential building</a>
in the middle of the camp. In addition to Ghaith, Zahi Oufi, commander
of the Hamas-aligned Qassam Brigades in the camp, was also killed.</p>
<p>Along with the fighters, an entire family on the second floor of the
building was wiped out, including the mother, father, two children, and
two grandparents. Ghaith and his comrades had been sitting in a popular
café on the building’s ground floor when an Israeli fighter jet dropped a
bomb on top of the building, marking the first time since the Second
Intifada that such an aircraft had been deployed in the West Bank.</p>
<p>The stories of Ghaith and many of his comrades have been cut short
over the past several months ever since the Israeli army launched a
large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank called “<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2024/08/the-new-status-quo-after-israels-assault-on-the-northern-west-bank/">Operation Summer Camps,” which lasted several weeks</a>.</p>
<img width="464" height="309" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/631A7831-1024x683.jpg" alt="Ghaith Shehadeh. a resistance fighter in the Tulkarem Brigade, September 2024. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Ghaith Radwan, a resistance fighter in the Tulkarem Brigade, September 2024. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)
<h2><strong>Fighting an asymmetric war</strong></h2>
<p>Since October 7, the tactics of Israeli forces in dealing with the
West Bank have changed. The Israeli army began using airstrikes with
drones, apache helicopters, and — for the first time on October 3—
fighter jets. According to the Moata Palestinian Center, the Israeli
army has conducted 998 raids across the entire governorate of Tulkarem
since October 7. Additionally, 601 properties belonging to residents
were destroyed, including the total destruction of 125 homes.</p>
<p>During the interview, Ghaith told <em>Mondoweiss</em> that their fight with Israel was unfair due to the vast imbalance of power. </p>
<p>“I face the occupation with a rifle and a few bullets, while they
face me with warplanes, bulldozers, military vehicles, and
reconnaissance drones,” he said. “It has never been a fair fight. The
occupation army invades the camp in full military gear, and all I have
is this rifle.”</p>
<blockquote><p>“I face the occupation with a rifle and a few
bullets, while they face me with warplanes, bulldozers, military
vehicles, and reconnaissance drones. It has never been a fair fight.”</p><cite>Ghaith Radwan, Palestinian resistance fighter</cite></blockquote>
<p>Ghaith motioned towards the M-16 placed on his lap, one of many such
weapons that are bought on the black market in the West Bank, mostly
from Israel. He made sure to note that despite all of its military
power, Israeli forces could not reach the fighters except through
airstrikes and targeted attacks by drones. He told us that most
resistance fighters in Tulkarem refugee camp have been killed in this
way rather than through ground confrontations. </p>
<p>“In confrontations, the army is weaker than you might think,” said
Tareq al-Doush, 29, one of Ghaith’s companions and a local commander of
the Fatah-aligned al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the camp. He nodded in
agreement at Gaith’s assertion. “Most of our martyrs were killed by
airstrikes, not by bullets.” </p>
<p>“They are only stronger with their planes and their armored vehicles,” Tareq said.</p>
<p>Ghaith continued telling us about how he joined the resistance in
Tulkarem, which had developed over the course of two years of rising
armed resistance in the northern West Bank. One of the most important
milestones in those years was the <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/08/west-bank-dispatch-the-tulkarem-brigade-resists/">founding of the Tulkarem Brigade</a> in March 2022, an umbrella group of organizations that included Fatah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.</p>
<p>“The hardest thing I’ve experienced is the martyrdom of my brother,
and then my friends,” Ghaith said. “This made me continue on my path.
But we are not fighting for a martyr or for anyone else; we are fighting
in search of freedom. A foolish soldier who knows nothing about life
comes and shuts down our streets and controls our lives. Those who
imprison us are strangers to this land, and they should go back to their
countries.”</p>
<p>In the early days of his involvement in the resistance, Ghaith says
things were easier. “There were no D9 bulldozers, and there wasn’t as
much destruction in the camp,” he said. After October 7, Israel’s raids
intensified in terms of fatality, duration, and scale of destruction.
“Some surrendered, while others continued along the path of resistance.
And we kept going.” </p>
<p>The recent raids were difficult for Ghaith and his fellow fighters
because Israeli forces would resort to collective punishment to dissuade
the community from sheltering the resistance youth. “They took out
their anger on the camp residents and their properties. They destroyed
its infrastructure and punished the people of the camp,” Ghaith
explained. “Every house we would seek shelter near would have bombs
planted in them [by the army] and blown up.” </p>
<p>For Ghaith and the other members of the Tulkarem Brigade, the
objective of these punitive measures was clear. “They are trying to
destroy the popular support base in the camp,” he said.</p>
<p>I asked him how he felt surrounded by all this destruction, and he
answered that it drove him to seek revenge. “The occupying settler wants
to impose his power over us. He wants to show that he is in control.”</p>
<p>“But once the raid is over, many people check in on us and express
their gratitude that we are safe. When they look at the destruction of
the camp, they just say, ‘better to lose your wealth than lose your
children,’” he continued.</p>
<p>Tareq al-Doush echoed Ghaith’s sentiments, insisting that the
fighters drew their strength from the camp’s popular support base. “Our
resolve comes from the women, elders, and children of the camp,” he
explained. “They give us our strength.”</p>
<p>“We will continue to mobilize, generation after generation,” he vowed.</p>
<p>When we asked Ghaith if he feared that the resistance might end after
him, he replied with a slight smile. “It’s true that Palestine is a
land of ‘birth,’ but a person can’t help but feel fear about what will
happen after their martyrdom. Will there be people who will remain on
this path?”</p>
<p>He paused for a moment before continuing. “This path has never
stopped for anyone. When Jihad Shehada who founded the Brigade in
Tulkarem refugee camp was killed, everyone said that his death would end
the resistance. But on the contrary, it intensified. In Jihad’s time,
we were seven guys, and then our numbers increased. Whenever one of them
was martyred, we only grew.”</p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote><p>“This path has never stopped for anyone. When
Jihad Shehada who founded the Brigade in Tulkarem refugee camp was
killed, everyone said that his death would end the resistance. But on
the contrary, it intensified.”</p><cite>Ghaith Radwan, Palestinian resistance fighter</cite></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<img width="464" height="309" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/631A7819-1024x683.jpg" alt="Ghaith Shehadeh. a resistance fighter in the Tulkarem Brigade, September 2024. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Ghaith Radwan. a resistance fighter in the Tulkarem Brigade, September 2024. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)
<h2>The promises of <strong>October 7</strong></h2>
<p>“Gaza definitely impacted me. When October 7 happened, we celebrated
here in Tulkarem refugee camp with a car parade and kept driving through
the neighborhoods. Of course, it gave me motivation and made me believe
that we will be liberated. We are fighting here for our homeland and
our dignity,” Ghaith said.</p>
<p>“October 7 was like a dream for us,” Tareq added. “I am sure that we
will sleep and wake up again to see the dream grow even larger. We will
be liberated.”</p>
<p>Tareq believed that the war on Gaza brought the resistance fighters
together and united the different resistance factions. The Tulkarem
Brigade exemplified this unification. “The factions do not divide us. In
the end, we are the Tulkarem Brigade…we are all from the same camp, the
same people, the same blood, and we live for one goal.”</p>
<p>Another resistance fighter who preferred not to be named said that
the assassinations, bombings, and raids that the Israelis have been
carrying out since October 7 were all an attempt to erase the joy
Palestinians felt on that day.</p>
<p>“Every time I hesitate to pick up my weapon and resist the
occupation, I remember October 7,” he said. “And I feel that our freedom
is close.”</p>
<blockquote><p>“Every time I hesitate to pick up my weapon and
resist the occupation, I remember October 7. And I feel that our freedom
is close.”</p><cite>Ghaith Radwan, Palestinian resistance fighter</cite></blockquote>
<h2><strong>Dreams of freedom</strong></h2>
<p>Most of the resistance fighters I’ve met over the years have been no
older than 30, and the majority have been in their twenties. Being so
young, Ghaith and his comrades’ resolve to join the resistance prompted
us to ask them why they resisted.</p>
<p>What was consistent in all their answers was the life they wanted to
lead after liberation. Most of them expressed disarmingly simple
aspirations, like being able to drive a car for hours without being
stopped at a checkpoint, or moving freely without the fear of being
killed by a soldier’s bullet or assaulted by a settler mob. Others just
longed for not living with the constant fear of being arrested, a
feeling they experienced long before they became fighters.</p>
<p>“My personal dream is to live like any person who is comfortable in
their life. There is no Palestinian who is comfortable. Anyone who says
otherwise is lying. No one can be at ease while being occupied,” Ghaith
said. “The comfortable one is either a traitor or has no problem with
the occupation.”</p>
<blockquote><p>“My personal dream is to live like any person who
is comfortable in their life. There is no Palestinian who is
comfortable. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. No one can be at ease
while being occupied.”</p><cite>Ghaith Radwan, Palestinian resistance fighter</cite></blockquote>
<p>Ghaith’s other dream is the same as any other fellow descendants of
refugees who grew up in the camp. They all want to go back to the
villages and towns from which their ancestors were displaced in 1948.
“My roots trace back to a village called Wadi al-Hawaris in the Haifa
district,” Ghaith explained. “My grandfather used to tell me about it
and what their lives were like. I’m fighting the occupation because I
want to visit my land one day. Every Palestinian, every person, every
refugee has a dream of returning to their land.”</p>
<p>Tareq’s answer is no different. He spoke of his dream of returning to
the village of Sidi Ali in the Jaffa district, from which his
grandfather was displaced. “Every day, I would sit with my father and
grandmother, and they would tell me about my village overlooking the
sea. This conversation has been etched in my mind since childhood,” he
said.</p>
<p>“I will keep resisting until I reach that village overlooking the
sea. I love the camp, but this is not our place. Our place is in Sidi
Ali,” he vowed.</p>
<p>Tareq was the eldest among the resistance fighters in Tulkarem
refugee camp. I had earlier encountered him speaking with his comrades
in the camp’s alleyways. I got the impression that the other fighters
treated him like he was an older brother. When I asked for someone to
interview, everyone immediately mentioned Tareq’s name, knowing him to
be an eloquent speaker.</p>
<p>But when I asked Tareq about what it was like leading everyone, the
first thing he mentioned was his mother. “I haven’t seen my mother for
ten days. The occupation bombed our multi-story house and burned it
down, and my mother moved to live in another house, which is difficult
for me to reach,” Tareq said. “Every ten days or so, my mother comes to
see me here in the streets and alleys.”</p>
<p>I asked him what his message to his mother would be. “God willing, we
will be liberated. And if I become a martyr, I want to tell her that
she is the person I love most in life, and her faith in God should
remain strong. I don’t want her to grieve for me; I want her to rejoice
in my martyrdom.”</p>
<p>The paradox in these fighters’ answers was striking. They all said
that they were fighting to be able to live a different life, and every
one of them was living with the expectation that they would be killed at
any moment and become martyrs. The dream of a different life, for many
of them, has stood side by side with the dream of martyrdom itself.</p>
<img width="464" height="309" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/631A8214-1024x683.jpg" alt="Aftermath of the Israeli airstrike that killed 20 Palestinians in Tulkarem refugee camp, October 3, 2024. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Aftermath
of the Israeli airstrike that killed 20 Palestinians in Tulkarem
refugee camp, October 3, 2024. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)
<p>The day after the airstrike on the cafe that killed Ghaith and his
comrades, hundreds of residents took to the streets to participate in
their funeral procession. During Ghaith’s funeral, people carried him on
their shoulders, chanting to him with a mournful melody: “Where are you
going, Ghaith? You opened our wounds!” </p>
<p>Then another chant responded, louder and more insistent than the
first, as if answering Ghaith’s injunction to continue the struggle
after he was gone: “Ghaith, you are our leader, our hero, our teacher!
We learn from you, Ghaith!”</p>
<img width="464" height="309" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/631A8303-1024x683.jpg" alt="Funeral of Ghaith Radwan, a resistance fighter in the Tulkarem Brigade, October 3, 2024. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Funeral of Ghaith Radwan, a resistance fighter in the Tulkarem Brigade, October 3, 2024. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)
<hr>
<p><strong>Shatha Hanaysha</strong><br>Shatha Hanaysha is a Palestinian journalist based in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.</p>
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