Many people are wrong to believe that Israel is a powerful country. It does enjoy an advantage in military capability and international support when it unleashes destruction against unarmed people. But like a fight between a hyena and a gazelle, its victory is not inevitable.
In 2003 in Gaza, Israel assassinated Nidal Farahat, and I remember his funeral because he was a neighbor of mine. Farahat is well known because he was the first to produce rockets in Gaza. He made it possible for Palestinians here to use them to defend themselves against the most developed weapons the Israelis have, whether in the army, police, or even settlers.
I can’t confirm whether Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 due to the growth and development of the resistance against the Israeli settlements here or whether it was for other reasons. But now the factions in Gaza who produce rockets can respond when Israel attacks. The resistance’s rockets are something almost everyone in Gaza is proud of, despite knowing the massive difference between what is fired from Gaza and what we receive in return. Still, the resistance grows in Gaza despite all Israeli obstacles.
These rockets are the means of resistance, and the people support them even if it looks like trying to take down a mountain with a needle.
Now in Jenin, similar resistance is growing in terms of the numbers of fighters and their weapons. I recently watched a social media video showing a group of fighters in Jenin firing their own locally made rockets, similar to the early scenes I remember here in Gaza.
Still, I have some questions.
I always wonder about the old saying, “What’s taken by force can only be restored by force.” If the West Bank obtains rockets to defend its people like Gaza and Palestinians from all of Palestine rise up at once, will Israel be able to face them all?
And when can Palestinians expect to receive the international support that Israel does? Despite repeated calls from Palestinians to the world asking them to stop the Israeli terror against them, it doesn’t arrive. Israel kills Palestinians with military, political, and financial support from the United States and most of the world’s powerful countries while the same countries abandon the Palestinians and their rights. This vast divide in international support makes a big difference.
Regardless, Palestinians on the ground whom I interview and meet daily believe they will eventually defeat the occupation as God promises in the holy Quran.
Until then they view their existence and standing up to the Israeli occupier as their resistance. They believe their liberation will come one day because the Palestinian resistance will continue to grow and finally gain international support to end their occupation and not be delegitimized as “terror.” Because as a matter of fact, the Palestinian resistance is defending the Palestinian people from the most obvious source of terror — Israel.
