Gazelles like to die among their people. Falcons don’t care where they die. – Ghassan Kanafani, Men in the Sun : A novel: Three men die in a strange way.
Interview with Ghassan Kanafani, 1970, before Mossad blew him up with a car bomb. I was wondering whether you might like to put this link up on WBT? Hearing him was useful for me! Gifted writer etc and he “cuts through” perfectly re what the resistance are doing. – GW.
Richard Carleton: Why won’t your organization engage in peace talks with the Israelis?
Ghassan Kanafani: You don’t mean exactly peace talks, you mean capitulation, surrendering.
Richard Carleton: Why not just talk?
Ghassan Kanafani: Talk to whom?
Richard Carleton: Talk to the Israeli leaders.
Ghassan Kanafani: That’s a kind of conversation between the sword and the neck, you mean.
Richard Carleton: Better live than dead, though.
Ghassan Kanafani: Maybe to you, but to us it’s not. To liberate our country, to have dignity, to have respect, to have our mere human rights, is something as essential as life itself.”
Men in the Sun is the missing legitimate cry, the Palestinian voice that has long been lost in the tents of displacement, suffocating inside a carriage driven by a eunuch who has been defeated once and will lead everyone to their death. As a novel, it does not claim to express the reality of Palestinian life in all its complexities. It is a symbolic framework for multiple relationships centred on Palestinian death and the need to move beyond it towards discovering historical action or searching for this action, starting from the obvious question: ‘Why didn’t they knock on the walls of the reservoir?’
رجال في الشمس هي الصراخ الشرعي المفقود، إنها الصوت الفلسطيني الذي ضاع طويلاً في خيام التشرد، والذي يختنق داخل عربة يقودها خصي هزم مرة أولى وسيقود الجميع إلى الموت. وهي كرواية لا تدعي التعبير عن الواقع الفلسطيني المعاش في علاقاته المتشابكة، إنها إطار رمزي لعلاقات متعددة تتمحور حول الموت الفلسطيني، وحول ضرورة الخروج منه باتجاه اكتشاف الفعل التاريخي أو البحث عن هذا الفعل انطلاقاً من طرح السؤال البديهي: “لماذا لم يدقوا جدران الخزان؟”
I find it hard to be so hopeful. But hopefully you are right.
The latest comments from the USA’s Minister for War are not encouraging, but I suppose words don’t always deeds — and in recent times it seems the USA government is more interested in waging war on its own people than anyone else, which is bad for people in Northern America but better for most others. (Not that it hasn’t been doing that in various ways for a long time, but it’s rare to see them doing it with such overt glee)
Richard Carleton took a similar line 55 years ago. Read the response by PFLP leader, Ghassan Kanafani.
Richard Carleton: Why won’t your organization engage in peace talks with the Israelis?
Ghassan Kanafani: You don’t mean exactly peace talks, you mean capitulation, surrendering.
Richard Carleton: Why not just talk?
Ghassan Kanafani: Talk to whom?
Richard Carleton: Talk to the Israeli leaders.
Ghassan Kanafani: That’s a kind of conversation between the sword and the neck, you mean.
Richard Carleton: Better live than dead, though.
Ghassan Kanafani: Maybe to you, but to us it’s not. To liberate our country, to have dignity, to have respect, to have our mere human rights, is something as essential as life itself.
Regarding the Kanafani interview ,
Tell the people of Gaza why they should die for the greater good.
That interview was fifty years ago. A lot has changed since including the power and momentum of the resistance. Kanafani says in response to Carlton’s question that the purpose of fighting is to establish that there is something to fight for – an assertion of the existence of Palestine. This was during the hikacking campaign, and the resistance’s objective was simply to put Palestine on the world stage – to assert its existence. Asserting existence is no longer the goal that was achieved a long time ago. The struggle right now is to establish a sovereign Palestine state – the fulfilment of Kanafani’s assertions.
Privileged people far from war zones should not tell the victims of war what is the best way forward. If you support Palestine, then support it and stop arguing against it.
Proponents for Trump’s ultimatum (not as claimed a ‘plan for peace’) are making the classic mistake of substituting tactics for strategy.
The solidarity movement is too far away from the conflict to participate in decision-making. What is best for the solidarity movement in support of whatever decision the Palestinians make?
I am very doubtful about assertions from afar regarding the Palestinian resistance and the Beijing declaration. The Palestinians simply were never consulted, Trump gave them an ultimatum that ‘ all hell will break loose’ unless you agree to disarm.
Palestinian existence was never in dispute. Only the Zionists like Golda Meir and Bob Hawke would claim that Palestine was ‘land for a people, for a people without land’.
Yes, the PFLP did hijack airliners to disprove that lie.
The interview with Kanafani took place in Beirut in 1970 inside a multi-story building that was the headquarters of the PLO. Arafat’s PLO was at war with King Hussein of Jordan and the Phalange in Lebanon.
Kanafani is talking about the perfidy of Arab leaders as well as the Israelis. Ghassan gave his life to the resistance. You don’t know how hard it was back then, you’re too young.
It was even hard to get the Left to recognise the injustice. They thought Kibbutz was a progressive community! They believed the hasbara that Israel was engaged in a national liberation struggle.
For example, a prominent libertarian in Brisbane was an active Zionist and still is. Sections of the CPA leadership were openly Zionist despite Lenin’s warnings about the Zionist Bund in the Soviet Union.
Palestinians and the solidarity movement have come too far to allow the resistance to accept defeat spelt out in Trump’s plan. The Zionists have openly declared they will kill everybody. We must take that power away from them. As I have said before, this means we have to defeat the U.S.
“Gazelles like to die among their people. Falcons don’t care where they die.” – Ghassan Kanafani, Men in the Sun : A novel: Three men die in a strange way.
The Trump 20 point peace plan for Gaza
There is an awful lot that is wrong about Trump’s plan, in particular it says nothing about the West Bank or the Gaza Marine gas field, but if it can end the present genocide then I am prepared to temporarily forgive it. However the plan does also appear to be a major defeat for Israel, it will not control Gaza. Furthermore, Trumps’ original plan of the US “owning” “Trump Gaza” seems to have been taken off the table. While there is still a “Trump Plan” for Gaza real estate development, it will be controlled by Arab states including UAE and Qatar and modelled on their “miracle cities”. This means it will all be financed by BRICS, not the US. The significance of BRICS controlling, or at least dominating, the development of Gaza means the end of the Trump-Israel plan to build the Ben Gurion Canal through Northern Gaza to compete with the BRICS controlled/dominated Suez Canal.
The specifically unmentioned elephant in the room is China. Point 9 of the Trump plan is – “Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee”. This is pretty much cut and paste from the 2024 Beijing Declaration of Unity, agreed to by all factions of the Palestinian resistance. According to the Beijing Declaration, this Palestinian technocratic committee would be controlled by the PA (PLO) to administer Chinese financing of the reconstruction of Gaza, which is going to happen unless Trump can get finance from somewhere else. But Trump’s deviation from the Beijing Declaration, which is the biggest problem of the Trump plan, is the creation of an international “Board of Peace” headed by Trump himself to “oversee” and “supervise” the technocratic committee. There will most likely be conflict between the PA/PLO and the international Board of Peace and my guess that conflict will include timing for an election as well as where reconstruction financing might come from. The PLO want elections to be held as soon as the population is housed and stabilised, and China has agreed that housing is the first priority of reconstruction to enable democratic elections. The “Board of Peace” will try to prevent elections for as long as possible to make the Palestinian proto-state prove it can behave itself (this was the basis of Trump’s previous Abraham accords). But hopefully that fight can be fought politically and economically and will not result in more war, which is better than how it is now.
Firstly, no Arab was consulted about Trump’s 20-point plan. Many people mistakenly think that the Palestinian Authority has accepted a two-state solution. That was a forced concession prior to the Oslo Accord. The original charter of the PLO was for a single democratic state in all of historical Palestine with equal rights for Jews, Muslims and Christians. Oslo did not guarantee a Palestinian state. For one, Israel always opposed it and still does. People from outside can not tell Palestinians directly affected what they should do. But we all learn from history. There have been a number of occasions when the PLO were forced to withdraw from Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon, albeit under enormous pressure.
I quote one example. In 1982, the PLO was forced to withdraw from Beirut, such were the casualties incurred under relentless Israeli bombardment. This affected both Palestinian and Lebanese alike. Arafat withdrew to Cyprus under an international agreement brokered by the Americans. They laid down their arms in the same way Hamas is now required to do under Trump’s 20-point plan.
What ensued was one of the most brutal massacres the Palestinians have ever suffered. Until now. Shabra and Shatilla refugee camps were attacked by the Phalange under the supervision and support by the ‘butcher of Beirut’, Ariel Sharon. They slaughtered and raped over 3,000 Palestinians. Remember Sabra and Shatilla. The resistance will not lay down its arms!
Nobody trusts Trump or Netanyahu, both are war criminals.
Remember Al Nakba, Tel-a-Zataar, Black September, Sabra and Shatilla!
High Seas Piracy
To: Echo Editor
Dear Hans,
The Global Sumud Flotilla wasn’t just carrying 600 brave humanitarians intent on bringing desperately needed food and medical supplies to Gaza’s starving and injured people, it was also carrying the hopes and aspirations of millions of people world wide who ache with longing for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza to end.
As I write, I learn that the Israeli navy has illegally boarded most boats and kidnapped their occupants, including six Australians two of whom are from our area, Surya McEwen and Juliet Lamont. We have inundated the phone lines of Wong, Albanese, and DFAT and the only message we get is that the government is fully aware and is monitoring the situation.
Compare this with Colombia which has severed its FreeTrade Agreement with Israel and expelled all its diplomatic staff! According to Senator Bernie Sanders America has donated $20 billion to Israel since October 2023 and has paid for 70% of the costs of Israel’s genocide in Gaza! This is Australia’s AUKUS friend who takes our tax dollars to build nuclear submarines and F35 warplane parts! We protest!
On Saturday, October 11 Northern Rivers Friends of Palestine will assemble at Railway Park at 2pm and march to Apex Park calling for an immediate ceasefire, an unrestricted flow of food and medical aid into Gaza, the release of all prisoners held by Israel and the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador.
—
Gareth W R Smith
Palestine Liberation Centre
14 Cumbebin Park
Byron Bay
NSW 2481
Australia
Tel: (61)2-56058404
MOB: 0491107279
“Those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire
George Orwell, ‘Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.’
“The sleep of reason produces monsters.” Goya
They cannot possibly not publish this, Gareth. We will be there
Lynne
Well said Gareth!
Another flotilla has already set sail, with at least 9 Canadian boats included….
We will never give up!
Factcheck. In 1982 the UN declared a ceasefire in the Lebanese civil war. Israel withdrew its troops. The PLO did not leave. Then Israel broke the ceasefire and launched the siege of Beirut and the PLO were defeated. At that point the PLO withdrew with US support.
But today is very different to those old times. Everything changed with the Oslo accords where the PLO’s agenda became peace not war. Palestinian unity fell apart then too and the Palestinian civil war began, which did not end until the Beijing Declaration of unity last year, but peace is back on the agenda again, even Hamas has signed up.
The PLO and/or Hamas have never and will never be able to defeat Israel militarily. The PLF and PLO guerrilla war was always intended to achieve political results, not military victories. Palestinian statehood will be won in the same ethos as guerrilla war – by any means necessary, including joining BRICS, negotiations with China and the Arab states and cutting a deal with Trump. If a Palestinian state is not eventually established by diplomatic and economic means then all the guerrilla martyrs died in vain.
John T.,
I am no expert on the history of Palestinian resistance, but I do not recollect the PLO being defeated in Beirut in 1982, Arafat was under a lot of pressure to leave, for sure, but not defeated. Also the PLO and the Palestinians had a lot of political differences prior to Oslo, the split with the PFLP in Jordan for one.
Israel has never had a military victory without the support of the Americans. Hezbollah drove the yanks out of Lebanon in 1983. It was the Israel’s who stayed as an occupation until under Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah drove them out in 2000.
Last Monday’s Trump ultimatum has defeat written all over it, with another terrible massacre at the end of it, I suspect. Plus it leaves out the West Bank and settler violence and ongoing ethnic cleansing.
It is not true that Israel is not militarily invincible. So far they have only had non-state actors challenge them. During the 12 day war this year, Iran had Israel on the ropes because Israel had run out of defensive missiles. Once again the US stepped in.
That’s all from me on this thread … https://youtu.be/YW9J3tjh63c?si=06iWqCmnEGAEYYLs
The Big Ride for Palestine – Australia I am no expert either and I do not remember the events, but this is how Wikipedia tells the story. It is clear that the Sabra and Shatila massacres happened because the PLO withdrew, but the PLO had no choice in that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Beirut
Why isn’t the armed conflict between Hamas and Fatah a civil war?
John T
To stay or to leave has always been a choice.
It was not a civil war because there were other state actors plus MI6.
In the same way the American war in Vietnam was never a civil war.
The conflict in Gaza was with the Quartet that refused to accept the results of the 2006 PA elections.
Palestinians in the West Bank sought unity between Haneer and Abbas as these chants for unity and freedom by women from Nablus in 2011 show. They were supported by the mayor in Nablus, (see video shot by a friend in Nablus with a camera i gave him).
“Hey Haneer! Hey Abbas!
Our unity is the base that we can stand on!
Our unity is the base that we can stand on!
Why do you still stand at the doors?
Participate with us, young people, come out!
Common teenagers!
People want to end the split
National Unity, National Unity!
Unity is the demand of all the people
Put an end to the split
So that we can face the aggressors
As long as division lasts the pain will increase
People are the fuel
Your people are calling “Hey Hamas”
Take a chance — rescue the situation”
See https://youtu.be/eMU2YDYqWv8?si=lTz8otwl8H1CIZXH
The fourteen factions of the Beijing declaration endorsed the Palestinian Authority as the interim government of Gaza and the West Bank. This is the State of Palestine now. Do you support it?
The State of Palestine has applied for membership of BRICS? I suppose you still disapprove of that too?
“The genocide is not a state project, it is national project” – Norman Finkelstein.
Endorsement or otherwise of internal Palestinian agreements by outsiders is not relevant.
Beijing declaration. The Beijing declaration was a positive but non-binding agreement between parties that had no funding of their own and whose people were suffering a genocide. A number of those signatories have been or are under threat of assassination by Israel, and the ones that survive are at the mercy of countries hostile to a Palestinian state. The Beijing declaration signed 18 months ago has not been mentioned in current rounds of negotiations between the parties. A new reality faces all Palestinian parties. For example, Israeli annexation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem is complete. Genocidal attacks and ethnic cleansing continue in Gaza. The Knesset has already repudiated Trump’s ultimatum.
It voted 120-9 against a Palestinian state.
95% of Palestinian houses in Gaza are destroyed. There are 60 million tons of toxic rubble that will take till 2050 to remove. Let that truth be preserved. Trump says the people can remain in Gaza. Where?
There is no state of Palestine… there have been no PA elections since Hamas won in 2003. The PA is tied to Israel and to the US. Israel collects and withholds all taxes paid by Palestinian workers and businesses. The PA will not join BRICS. Do not conflate one meeting of Palestinian exiles in Beijing with harsh realities faced by the Palestinian people. It is they who will decide their future.
BRICS. The idea of BRICS was formulated at Goldman Sachs as an economic category describing emerging markets. BRICS does not have its own currency. China, with the largest economy, dominates the category. It may become strong enough to challenge the US, which is the de facto currency in many countries.
Of course, I am not opposed to any country that wishes to challenge the hegemony of the US$, but I would caution substituting one form of hegemony for another.
Reference
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/upfront/2025/10/4/norman-finkelstein-trump-plan-has-no-connection-to-reality-in-gaza