“Gaza Will Never Carry the White Flag of Surrender”: Georges Abdallah’s Statement to Lannemezan March

Dear comrades, dear friends,

Years, very long years, behind these abhorrent walls, yet the same determination and enthusiasm always echoes in your solidarity-driven mobilization…

Knowing you are gathered here today, confronting these barbed wires and watchtowers just a few meters from my cell, fills me with strength and warms my heart. Yet, what emotion, comrades, friends, to see that, for the first time in so many years, it is not our tireless Suzanne reading this short statement. As you know, our dearly beloved Suzanne passed away a few weeks ago. Certainly she lives on forever in our hearts and memories as a vibrant flame, especially in such circumstances.

Dear comrades, dear friends,

Your solidarity-driven mobilization leaves no one here untouched; you see, the atmosphere in these dismal places, this entire prison environment, changes when the echo of active life strikes the lifeless routine of a deadly prison existence… Thus, some social fellow prisoners discover, as if by magic, even if only for a brief moment, the beauty and strength of inherently selfless human relationships, solidarity despite so many years behind bars… survivors in cultural and emotional deprivation, without real contact with society for years, this awakening of enthusiasm and humanity does not go unnoticed; it is seen in their eyes and revealed in their often sincere yet fleeting spontaneous comments.

Comrades and friends, the echo of your slogans, your songs, and everything else, passes beyond these barbed wires and watchtowers, it resonates in our minds and transports us far from these bleak places.

Dear comrades, dear friends,

At the dawn of this forty-first year of captivity, finding you here, in the diversity of your commitment, offers a resounding rebuke to all those who counted on the waning of your solidarity momentum. It underscores that the shift in the balance of power in favor of incarcerated revolutionary protagonists always depends on the solidarity mobilization on the field of anti-capitalist/anti-imperialist struggle.

Thus, we can say without the slightest hesitation that the most meaningful support we can offer our imprisoned comrades is rooted in real engagement in the ongoing struggle. Only by embracing solidarity on this ground does the imprisonment of our comrades start to weigh heavier than the potential threats tied to their release.

Comrades and friends, in this time of global capitalism’s crisis and the exacerbation of all its contradictions—this era of war, large-scale massacres, repression, fascism, propaganda and manipulation, of great struggles and mobilization, and especially of the inspiring surge of active youth amid the inherent barbarism of dying capitalism… for the first time in human history, millions of people are actively witnessing an ongoing genocide. For over 380 days, the genocidaires continue to wreak havoc in Gaza and the West Bank, now expanding their war to Lebanon with the active support of the main imperialist powers in the West. Yet, thanks to the heroic resistance of the Palestinian popular masses and their fighting vanguards, and thanks also to the massive solidarity mobilization around the world, Palestine resists and, more than ever, reclaims its rightful place at the forefront of the international scene.

With this in mind, dear comrades, dear friends, it may be useful to remember that active international solidarity is proving to be a an indispensable weapon in the fight against the ongoing settler colonialism in Palestine and the genocidal war deeply inherent to it. It is always through this active solidarity that we can participate in changing the balance of power here, in the belly of the imperialist beast, and elsewhere in building the “Historical Bloc,” a global framework and potential subject of the Palestinian national liberation movement.

Dear comrades, dear friends,

Of course, it is urgent to do everything possible to counter and stop the Zionist barbarism under way in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. The fact remains, however, that despite the genocidal, large-scale aggression against Gaza these days, in which tens and tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded have been added to the terrible widespread destruction of Gaza’s entire living space, the resistance remains unshakeable, protected and endorsed by the Palestinian popular masses.

Gaza will never raise the white flag of surrender. Neither the Zionists nor any other criminal force will ever succeed in breaking the will of the resistance in Gaza.

Shame on all those who, in the face of genocidal Zionist barbarism, call for us to look the other way!

May a thousand initiatives flourish in support of Palestine and its glorious resistance!

Capitalism is nothing but barbarism; honor to all those who oppose it in the diversity of their expressions!

Together, and only together, we will win!

Palestine will live, and Palestine will certainly win!

To all of you, comrades and friends, my warm revolutionary greetings.

Your comrade, Georges Abdallah