She Strikes For Us All

by Kashif Ahmed

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

As our honourable sister Hana al-Shalabi of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad enters the 35^th day of her hunger strike to protest Israeli ‘administrative detention’, or to give it its proper name: kidnap and false imprisonment. Palestinian prisoner affairs minister Issa Qaraqaa announced that Hana, 28, is in critical condition and was taken to hospital to undergo a series of tests. Independent doctors from the ‘Physicians for Human Rights’ group declared that she was suffering from severe muscle wastage, a fall in blood sodium levels and a weak pulse: “After the examination, the doctor established that the patient’s life was in danger and recommended her immediate transfer to hospital for observation”, said Qaraqaa. It was later reported that Hana al-Shalabi had been discharged from hospital and retaken by her Israeli captors.

The prognosis doesn’t look promising and there are those who say that Hana is close to death, others; that she has already embraced martyrdom but that the Israeli occupation fears the international backlash this news will cause. Especially since a wave of solidarity hunger strikes, inspired by Khader Adnan Mohammad Musa’s successful 67 day protest, are already beginning to cripple IDF dungeons across occupied Palestine. But whatever the outcome; the fact remains that her courageous stance has embarrassed the wretched parasites of the illegitimate state of Israel and the equally illegitimate, collaborationist popinjays who call themselves leaders of the Arabian Peninsula.

Hana al-Shalabi, from Burqin, Jenin was only a child when heavily armed IDF conscripts, shipped in from every corner of the globe, besieged her hometown. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank took on the form of checkpoints, terror attacks, home demolitions, kidnappings, and disappearances. For Jenin has always been the heartland of Palestinian resistance; in 1935 Mujahid Sheik Muhammed Izz ad-Din al-Qassam made his heroic last stand against the Rothschild controlled British Empire, even in the midst of disaster in 1948, Arab fighters still managed to hold off hordes of Jewish terrorists and prevent the fall of Jenin.

‘The Second Intifada’ saw Jenin become a focal point for resistance once again, and the target of numerous Israeli terror attacks; Hana’s brother was also martyred in such an attack in 2005. The Palestinians, to their eternal credit, tried to conduct retaliatory strikes to the best of their ability and means: Islamic Jihad volunteers managed to put up a spirited defence of their country, but outgunned, outnumbered and under siege, any hopes of a meaningful victory were soon dashed. As the world’s fourth largest army, sustained by conscription and in receipt of at least $8.3 million a day in U.S. military aid; soon encircled the fledging resistance.

Hana al-Shalabi was taken from her home at gunpoint by Israeli kidnappers in September 2009. Held hostage for over 2 years, Hana, along with other Palestinian captives, was released as part of a prisoner swap for French IDF conscript Gilad Shalit in October 2011. Hana’s elderly parents and surviving siblings were overjoyed to have her back. Severely maltreated by the Israelis, Hana slowly began to readjust; trying as best she could to resume what passes for a normal life under occupation. But her freedom was short lived. Four months later, on 16^th February 2012, armed Israelis burst into the al Shalabi family home, took Hana into custody again and put her under what the Jewish occupation calls ‘administrative detention’.

Tortured and viciously assaulted by the Israelis, Hana al-Shalabi was placed in solitary confinement and subjected to an increasingly depraved series of attacks. The wounds inflicted upon her are a disgrace only to her persecutors, those extremist Jew villains who, for shame, could not beg for grace.

And what of our pious and upright Ullama in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, how can they stand to see their mothers, sisters and daughters harassed in so brazen a manner? Why do our noble Imams, who so eloquently sermonise about the importance of Hijab; not demand, by the will of Allah (swt), that their Kings show some measure of decency, some indication that they’re still Muslims, some respect for their race and lineage? Are they aware that the Israeli abomination is but a few minutes away from their ivory towers and luxury resorts? Must we, like Qadi Abu Sa’ad Al-Harawi, shave our heads in mourning and enter their palaces? For no doubt, we shall see the same scenes today as Al-Hjawari saw at the court of the great Caliph al-Mustazhir in Baghdad, days after the fall of Al-Quds Jerusalem and the massacre of the Muslim population by European invaders in 1099 A.D:

“How dare you slumber in the shade of complacent safety, leading lives as frivolous as garden flowers, while your brothers have no dwelling place save the saddles of camels and the bellies of vultures? Blood has been spilled! Beautiful young girls have been shamed . . . Shall the valorous Arabs resign themselves to insult and the valiant Persians accept dishonour? Never have the Muslims been so humiliated. Never have their lands been so savagely devastated.”

Qadi Abu Sa’ad Al-Harawi

And at least al-Mustazhir and others could plead ignorance and were quick to organize resistance once made aware of the situation Our leaders today, be they Sunni or Shia, are denied that refuge and reprieve; their excuses, should they fail to act despite being gifted all the means with which to do so, will not be accepted in this life or the next.

African American civil rights activist Kwame Ture a.k.a. Stokely Carmichael once said, that the main flaw of non-violent resistance “…is that it requires your oppressor to have a conscience”. A conscience that Carmichael correctly observed was absent in the U.S., and a conscience that has never existed in any regime run by extremist Jews and their acolytes. Now I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; there’s little glory in martyrdom without victory. And unless Hana Al Shabali’s sacrifice instigates a process whereby civilised countries finalize a new policy to formally engage the criminal state of Israel and begin an open ended, humanitarian intervention in occupied Palestine, then she needn’t have bothered. Each Palestinian life is precious, and ought not to be placed in harm’s way without serious consideration, for to paraphrase General Patton; in any war, the trick isn’t to die for your values, but to get the other lot to die for theirs.

That said, Hana al-Shalabi is the bravest woman in the world. And I echo sentiments expressed by Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh: “The Palestinian people, with all its components and its factions, will never abandon the hero prisoners, especially those who lead this hunger strike battle.”

Hana al-Shalabi recently reassured her supporters in a statement released by her lawyer:

“It’s true our lives are very precious, but our freedom is even more precious and more powerful than their cells”, she said.

I’m inclined to agree, but at the same time, lament the state of affairs that led her to believe that Palestinians were so alone in their struggle that they had embark upon this course of action. And perhaps Khader Adnan Mohammad Musa put it best, when he said: 

“I started my battle offering my soul to Allah almighty and adamant to go ahead until righteousness triumphs over falsehood. Here I am in a hospital bed surrounded with prison wardens, handcuffed, and my foot tied to the bed. The only thing I can do is offer my soul to Allah as I believe righteousness and justice will eventually triumph over tyranny and oppression. I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on.” Khader Adnan Mohammad Musa

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
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