Unfolding Forgotten Pages from the Past: Resistance against an Occupation

By Nash Lane

“To every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction.”
– Isaac Newton

Perhaps Newton’s law is intended to describe the ‘natural course of nature’, but what is more natural than humans? And how is this relevant to what is happening in the Gaza Strip or, better yet, Palestine?
Before the establishment of Israel on the blood and ruins of Palestinian citizens and villagers and their homes in 1948, the so-called ‘Israeli citizens’ were in fact citizens of other countries around the world. Brought together under a new flag and a national anthem, these foreign citizens occupied Palestinians’ homes and claimed ownership of properties, lands and riches. But what happened to the Palestinians?

Money to Buy the ‘Promised Land’

If you ever wonder what Palestine was like before the Israeli and British occupation of the territory, it was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, where Muslims and non-Muslims lived in harmony in a state called ‘Palestine’. However, Jewish and foreign ambitions were soon directed to this part of land due to its importance in keeping the Muslim world intact and its value for trade and business.
Theodor Herzl, founder of Zionism, attempted to tempt Sultan Abdulhamid Al-Thani, the last Ottoman Emperor, through Nevlenski with money and fortune, but Sultan Abdulhamid replied, “I shall not sell one square meter of this land, because it is not mine but my people’s”.
In his own diaries, the Sultan emphasized, “They returned after a while and asked me to give them a land for the Jews to settle in Palestine for a huge amount of money, but of course I refused”.

Murder to Steal the ‘Promised Land’

After WWI, the British occupied the southern part of Palestine (from Jaffa to Jerusalem) in December 1917 and the rest of Palestine in September 1918. Lucky for the Zionists– who later occupied Palestine and declared themselves ‘Israelis’ – on November 2nd, 1917, the British Government issued ‘Balfour Declaration’ which empowered and supported the establishment of ‘a national home for the Jewish people’.
“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
A content-based discourse analysis would immediately flag words like ‘favour’, ‘in Palestine’, ‘best endeavours’ and ‘facilitate’ as keywords showing clear intention of removing a people and injecting a new one. In addition, describing the natives of Palestine as ‘non-Jewish communities’ shows blatant disregard of an entire nationality and a rooted citizenship – and, in a way, proves that there was actually a people living there. Either way, the Zionists (who presented themselves to the indigenous people as ‘the Jews’), according to this Declaration, are the winners, whether they come to occupy Palestine or stay in other countries; they would still enjoy their best of rights.
How successful was Britain with ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine’? We would leave that for you to answer.

Timeline: Palestinian Resistance Since 1920

October 4, 1920 – Nabi Musa Intifada
Action: A Jew profaned Muslims’ flag during their celebration of Nabi Musa festival.

May 1-15, 1921 – Yafa Intifada
Action: British-supported Jews called for vengeance for what happened in Nabi Musa Intifada, led a demonstration towards Manshiya Neighborhood in Yafa, where Palestinians lived, and initiated an attack against the residents.

August 15-30, 1928 – Al-Buraq Intifada
Action: The Jewish immigrants started making claim of the Islamic Buraq Wall to be their own, calling it ‘the Wailing Wall’ and demanding it be theirs.

Important date: October 1935 – Britain weaponized the Jewish Haganah militias through Haifa seaport.
“Do not kill our Arab brothers. Do not fire at the [Arabs] who fire at you… They do not understand what they are doing”. November 20, 1935
Sheikh Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam said to the revolutionists when the British came to attack them and advanced the Arab police towards the front lines.

1936-1939 – Grand Arab Revolution
Action: The exercise of economic pressure by the British occupation, the huge numbers of Jews intentionally brought to Palestine, growing British-supported gangs and militias being weaponized, and clear British intention to enable and militarize the Jewish community and suppress the Palestinian state. Over 5,000 Palestinians were killed and about 15,000 injured.

1939 – 1945 – WWII

1947 – the one time Israel decided to (almost) abide by UN Resolution
The 181 UN Resolution called for the partition of Palestine into two states: Jewish and Palestinian.

1947 – 1948 – the Nakba
Action: The Zionist militias were already trained and weaponized by the British occupation and committed bloody massacres against Palestinian citizens and villagers forcing them to leave (leading to what is now known as the Refugees Right to Return, meaning the Palestinians who were enforced out of their cities and never allowed to return again). Almost 15,000 Palestinians were killed.

May 14, 1948 – Declaration of Establishment of Israel and Official Occupation of Palestine

1948 – 1987 – Clashes between the Palestinian citizens and occupation’s gangs and militias (then called ‘soldiers and police’)

December 8, 1987 – Stones Intifada
Action: ‘Israeli’ hit and ran a group of Palestinian workers. About 1,162 Palestinians killed, mostly children.

September 24, 1996 – Tunnel Uprising
Action: ‘Israeli’ settlers started excavating a tunnel beneath one of the most sacred mosques for Muslims, Al-Aqsa Mosque.

September 28, 2000 – Al-Aqsa Intifada
Action: Ariel Sharon along with 1,000 heavily armed ‘police and soldiers’ profaned Al-Aqsa Mosque. About 4,412 Palestinians were killed.
By then thousands of Palestinians were killed, abducted, tortured and displaced.

2008-2009 – Israeli war on the Gaza Strip (1,430 Palestinians killed)
2012 – Israeli war on the Gaza Strip (180 Palestinians killed)
2014 – Israeli war on the Gaza Strip (2,322 Palestinians killed)
2019 – Israeli attack on leader in the Gaza Strip
2021 – Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood (250 Palestinians killed)
2022 – Israeli attack on leader in the Gaza Strip (24 Palestinians killed)
(Thousands were injured in these attacks)

October 7, 2023 – Palestinian resistance resisted for liberty, equality and tranquility.
October 8, 2024 – Genocide against the Palestinian people started and until the writing of this article is still in progress. +41,000 Palestinians killed and tens of thousands injured.

Resistance is not an action that initiates violence or attacks. Resistance is the natural reaction to oppression, murder, theft, displacement and – occupation.
Palestinian resistance is the natural reaction to a century-old occupation with different names and faces but one intention: to uproot the Palestinians and replace them with a home for colonizers.

Sources:

Road to Jerusalem – Mohsen Saleh
Al-Jazeera in English
Al-Jazeera in Arabic
Encyclopedia Britannica
Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestinian Question
The Palestinian Information Center
BBC News in Arabic