The story of the six Palestinian political prisoners should inspire hope and action, not despair.
For four days, the Palestinians who were inside Palestine and living in exile abroad were happy. Through their skill and curiosity, six brave Palestinian prisoners were released from an Israeli security prison.
It is thought that he did so with a spoon, since he could not have other weapons. Obviously, he did not have the heavy machinery needed to do this. The openings were very narrow, leaving everyone wondering how the six great men passed through.
I was immediately reminded of lines from Mahmoud Darwish’s poem:
The world is closing in on us
pushing us into the last paragraph
and we cut our limbs to pass.
Indeed, when two of them – Yaqoub Qadri and Mahmoud Abdullah al-Arida – were abducted on Friday, photographs they released showed that they had lost a significant amount of weight, possibly in order to achieve the opening. It was an imitation of life – they tore parts of their bodies to make them free.
The next day, Zakariah Zubeidi and Mohammad al-Arida were arrested. Ayham Kamamji and Munadil Infaat are at ease, fighting for their lives, working as hard as they can.
Israeli police have cut down photos of the men they arrested, distributing photos of them showing deep resentment in their remarks. Someone immediately took pictures of them smiling at the faces of Yaqoub and Mahmoud, and the changed photos were changed.
Many have opposed the change in the images. They say we should look at their suffering and overcome it as if we were too stupid to understand what this moment means to them.
I hope everyone who has changed this photo has made a significant contribution, and I hope they will do the same for Zakaria and Mohammad’s photos. Israeli authorities have released the hurtful images for various reasons.
They want to show their burden to all of us and allow the defeat and frustration to begin, as it seems. He wants our weaknesses to be bigger or bigger than our first celebration.
They want to erase from our minds the realization that six unprotected men, thin with nothing but perhaps a spoon, have shaken the Zionist project to its core. It is frightening that together we can contemplate the depth of hope and determination that inspired the six heroes to achieve what everyone thinks is impossible.
Because if we focus on the most important advocacy for freedom, the boundless hope in the heart of every reformer and warrior, we can find our strength.
We can begin to understand that nothing is impossible, and the freedom we have. We can begin to formulate a single plan to protect the remaining two – Ayham and Munadil – from being free and alive and to encourage contempt and rejection.
We can rise up to overthrow the corrupt and legitimate government of Mahmoud Abbas, and replace him with a reformed, determined government that will protect its people, instead of protecting the occupants, robbers, and oppressors of Palestinians.
Our courageous political prisoners were aware of the dangers they were facing. This is what the developers do. He would rather fight than fight. No matter what happens now, what he did cannot be changed. The punishment he inflicted on “Israel” could not be the same. He gave of himself to give us all hope. How can we now try to cope with the disappointment and frustration we feel?
It was not the defeat or frustration that motivated them to stay awake digging a large, unarmed canal. It was not at all a belief in the strong idea of the all-powerful Israelites.
What we can do to honor them is to take the hope of the hope and encouragement of the liberation that was at the heart of their courage. We can reinforce our contempt and refuse to live forever in bondage or imprisonment. We can understand that nothing is impossible, including the abolition of Zion’s oppressive rule. In the face of the dangers we know the same political prisoners are facing now, we have no right to be frustrated or defeated at this time. We can be sure that this is not what he wants to encourage us to do.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Al Jazeera.