Leader Barghouti urges a broad national conference to end division

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
11 Sep 2023 11:25

Detained Palestinian Resistance Commander Marwan Barghouti sends a letter from the isolation department of the "Ofer" Prison.

Palestinian Resistance leader Marwan Barghouti was seen with his cuffed hands raised above his head flashing a peace sign during his trial in 2003 (AFP)

Detained Palestinian Resistance Commander, Marwan Barghouti, sent a message from the collective isolation section of the "Ofer" prison, on the second anniversary of Operation Freedom Tunnel, in which he began by saluting the "six heroes of Operation Freedom Tunnel, who are detained in solitary isolation, who had marked the start of a new era of resilience, survival and Resistance."

In his letter, Barghouti reaffirmed that "today we meet on the anniversary of the remembrance of the six heroes of Operation Freedom Tunnel who marked a new era in the history of resilience, survival, and Resistance of Palestinian people who have been enduring for more than a hundred years of struggle and resistance."

"This heroic Operation cheered the entire world, and gained the respect and appreciation of Palestinians and free Arabs across the world," Barghouti said reaffirming that "this heroism was a shock to the Israeli occupation, reigniting the cause of [Palestinian] prisoners and their freedom."

Moreover, Barghouti said the operation had "reaffirmed the will of prisoners, who have not been broken by the long years of pain and suffering, to attain freedom."

Barghouti also noted, "that this anniversary [of the operation] coincides with the escalation of the fascist occupation government through its policy of marginalizing and isolating the Palestinian cause in preparation for its liquidation."

The occupation government explained the leader, has sought to achieve its goal "by flooding the [West] Bank and Al-Quds with hundreds of thousands of settlers and perpetuating the policy of creeping annexation."

In response to such actions, Barghouti stressed the importance of "addressing current challenges, the most important of which is [Israeli] settlement," which according to the imprisoned leader "requires the rearranging the Palestinian house through a national conference for inclusive dialogue, setting a timetable for holding presidential and legislative elections, rebuilding and developing the Palestine Liberation Organization, and integrating the Hamas and [Palestinian] jihad movements into it, so that the Organization can truly reflect the unity of Palestinian representation."

Exclusive: Prisoner Mahmoud al-Arida warns of another Nakba

The parties to the disputes in Occupied Palestine must stay on heightened alert and be wary of the Israeli enemy's schemes, Operation Freedom Tunnel hero, prisoner Mahmoud al-Arida said in a letter he sent to Al Mayadeen that was released last Wednesday.

The Palestinian prisoner said he "saluted our great people and our valiant resistance in Palestine, its victorious brigades, and the Axis of Resistance from Tehran to Baghdad, passing through the Levant (al-Sham) and the great city of Beirut."

The letter was written on the occasion of the second anniversary of Operation Freedom Tunnel, which saw six Palestinian prisoners liberating themselves from behind Israeli bars.

Al-Arida held the Palestinian factions responsible before history to avert another Nakba afflicting the Palestinian people.

"The Israeli occupation continues its settlement project and the Judaization of Al-Quds in order to build its alleged temple," the Palestinian prisoner added in his letter.

"The Israeli enemy believes that the Palestinian status quo, coupled with the absence of an Arab and Islamic role, allows it to achieve its goals, primarily through killing, demolishing, land confiscation, and violations against the captive movement through constant pressure," he wrote.

The mastermind behind Operation Freedom Tunnel told the people of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 to be wary of the Israeli project that represents an existential threat to them, stressing that the occupation has the goal of forcefully and voluntarily displacing them, confiscating Palestinian territories, and putting restrictions on residential compounds so as to prevent them from expanding.

"The daily killings, which are seeing an uptick, are resulting in a victim in every home, and thus, the civil war becomes a matter of time, and it will only end after thousands of deaths, deportations, and displacement," al-Arida underlined.

"In recent years, we have begun to witness internal migration to the refugee camps and cities of the West Bank. It is slow, but it will accelerate soon," he explained.

"I tell the Palestinian youth: Wake up... stop the infighting. Reclaim your identity and memory. Turn to the churches and mosques. Break the barrier of fear of religiosity," the Palestinian prisoner said.

Concluding his letter, the Operation Freedom Tunnel hero said: "Our message to our resistance in Gaza and Iraq (the descendants of Hussein): Our lives have dwindled away in prisons, but the enemy finds solace in us, gloating over our suffering, believing it has achieved its goals in the prisons."

"We look to you to put an end to this humanitarian tragedy that has gone on far too long," al-Arida added.

On the morning of September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners broke out of the high-security Israeli Gilboa prison through a tunnel they dug, which led them outside the prison walls before they were arrested.

The Freedom Tunnel prisoners are Mahmoud al-Arida, Zakaria al-Zubaidi, Yaqoub Qadri, Mohammed al-Arida, Ayham Kamamji, and Munadel Nafi'at.

Mahmoud al-Arida and Yaqoub Qadri were re-arrested four days later, on September 10, 2021 in Al-Nasra. Zakaria al-Zubaidi and Mohammed al-Arida were re-arrested the next day, and Ayham Kamamji and Mundadel Nafi'at on Sunday the 19th, after the house they had barricaded themselves in, east of Jenin, was surrounded.