The Struggle for Palestine:

Those Who Don't Move, Don't Notice Their Chains

Rasa - Iranian Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei couldn't be more accurate when he said Palestine could only be liberated through resistance, unity and resolve.

News ID: 425862

Date: 17 December 2016 - 22:30

RNA - He made the remarks in a meeting on December 14 in Tehran with Head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, praising the resistance spirit of the Palestinian people, which is rooted in their faith.

In Ayatollah Khamenei's words, "The only way to liberate the holy city of Al-Quds is struggle and resistance, as other solutions are useless and futile."

Few points are worth mentioning in this regard:

-If experience is any indication, the unity government can make headway toward new Palestinian elections. It's the only way to restore the public’s faith in a new leadership. If they want this latest unity to survive and yield results, then both Fatah and Hamas must display much greater moderation in their public dealings with each other than they have done so far. They could start working together more – outside pressure and political reservations notwithstanding.

-Despite the Israeli hurdles and pressure, the Palestinian factions have managed to forge a unity government. They have held elections that rendered positive results – one being recognition by the UN. It is incumbent upon the political class to join forces to pave the way for new elections and prove to their own people and the international community that they have what it takes to establish the independent State of Palestine - with Al-Quds as their rightful capital. Of course, for this to happen, they need to have faith. Faith is why they are still here today and why they have made it through thus far.

-President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will nominate attorney David Friedman as US ambassador to Israel, selecting an envoy who supports illegal settlements and other anti-Palestinian changes to US policies. Friedman says he looks forward to carrying out his duties from what he calls "the U.S. embassy in Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem," even though the embassy is in Tel Aviv.

Like his predecessors, Trump has also vowed to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, a politically charged act that would anger Palestinians who want east Jerusalem Al-Quds as part of their sovereign territory. As for Washington's client states, the move would never distance the US from its closest allies in Western Europe and the Arab world. Simply put, it will be "the-special-relationship" business as usual for the pro-Israel syndicate - at the expense of the long-suffering Palestinian people.

-When the Iranian Leader says 'the Palestinian resistance spirit is rooted in their faith,’ he means this: The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone. The usurper regime can build the apartheid wall all the way to the sky and the Palestinians will still find a way to fly above them. The usurper regime can try to pin them down with a hundred thousand American arms and billions of dollars in American aid, but the brave Palestinians will still find a way to resist.

-Nothing strengthens the Zionist regime so much as silence and complicity on the part of the United Nations, particularly at the Security Council, where systematic silence has become cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.

There is no feasible excuse for what they are, for what the permanent members have made of themselves. The silent partners have chosen to put profits and politics before humanity, money before morality, dividends before decency, state-sponsored terrorism before international law, fanaticism before fairness, and their own trivial comforts and interests before the unspeakable Israeli crimes in occupied lands.

Under the prevailing environment, struggle and resistance is indeed the only way forward 'as other solutions are [and have been] useless and futile.' For all the right reasons, it’s a must and in line with the national interests of the Palestinians and their intra-unity government. Simply put, to do otherwise is to settle.

There can be no dispute that national struggle and resistance will unite the Palestinians and put further pressure on the Zionist regime to end the Western-backed occupation, state terrorism, settlement activities, human rights violations, blockade and collective punishment, as well as unimaginable war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied territories. A reminder that those who do not move, do not notice their chains.

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