The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Palestinian Liberation is all around us
On Halloween my housemates and I sat in our front yard with carved pumpkins on display and sweets ready to share, we joyfully welcomed a steady stream of trick or treaters.
After an hour or so of aw-ing at the kids in their costumes and wishing all a Happy Halloween, something happened that hasn’t left my mind since. A little boy, maybe 8 years old, dressed up in a Spiderman costume, grabbed himself a MilkyWay, thanked us then, pointing to a miniature flag we have stuck on our window, said “I like your Palestine flag!”. Slightly amazed I replied, “thanks, so do we” and he trotted on off to the next house.
It can often feel impossible not to splinter under the weight of our current reality, not to let doom consume our minds as we watch this genocide continue to ravage and destroy the lives of our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Yet, here and there, there are moments, little sparks of hope - my Spiderman interaction for one - that prove that there is a new world coming: the seeds of liberation are firmly planted and they are gently growing as we speak.
In London we walk on streets haunted by Britain’s plunderous colonial history and, though Palestine is over two-thousand miles away, one cannot ignore the hand the British Empire and its legacy has played, and continues to play, in the Palestinian plight as we watch this genocide unfold. It was the British who, in 1917, signed off the native homeland of Palestinians to facilitate the birth of the Zionist state, as marked in the infamous Balfour Declaration. The three decades following the declaration saw British control in Palestine, (the British Mandate of Palestine) that lay the groundworks for the catastrophic ethnic cleansing and mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948, referred to as the Nakba (meaning catastrophe in Arabic). It is more than fair to say that without the British (as is a common theme in so much “post”colonial suffering) the genocide of Palestinians at the hands of Netanyahu’s Israel, would not be occurring. So where does that leave us now as Brits?
We must both recognise our history whilst interrogating our present.
For 13 months, millions of Brits have been protesting our governments continued allowance of weapons manufacturing and sales to Israel. These weapons, partially built on our soil, are, whilst you read this, being used by Israel to perpetrate genocide and countless other crimes against humanity. We have painfully watched as our government has repeatedly abstained from numerous UN ceasefire votes, allowing Israel’s abhorrently violent campaign of mass killing to continue, whilst Sunak, Starmer, their supporters with considerable, essential help from the British media, tirelessly paint this asymmetric genocide as a two-sided ‘self defense’ issue. Brits have mobilised with fortnightly national marches in London, nationwide and local days of action, letters to MP’s, boycotts, petitions, protests and more, all to seemingly no avail. It’s bleak, it’s depressing, but it isn’t and it mustn’t be, hopeless, for hopelessness is a device used by all colonial entities, and we must avoid it at all costs.
But how?
Let’s go back to halloween, in my eyes, that little boy’s acknowledgment of our Palestine flag is concrete proof of something much bigger, something deeply hopeful. As the saying goes “the revolution will not be televised” - revolutionary change can only happen from the inside out, the mind must change before action can follow. That one kid dressed up in his Spiderman costume is an undoubtable symbol of change, it is proof of knowledge - and there is more and more proof everywhere. Ignorance can no longer be used as an excuse for why or how we allowed this genocide to happen, the minds of the masses are changing, and action is following - granted its simply not fast enough, and we are simply not doing enough, but there is hope.
I am holding on tight to the knowledge that worldwide, there are so many more Spidermans - the next generation are being taught at an early age about the Palestinian cause, about liberation, about the role our nation played, and continues to play, in this injustice, and about a better future - one they undoubtedly will have to fight for - but one that is closer than the colonial powers and their weapons of hopelessness would like us to believe.
I close this piece with a powerful statement to take forward. Spoken by Palestinian-Egyptian Poet, Tamim Al-Barghouti, in his joint speech at an event I attended held by the Palestine Festival of Literature at the Southbank Centre, in celebration of the republishing of The Question of Palestine, an important and enduring book by late Palestinian-American academic and author, Edward Said.
Tamim spoke alongside Wadie Said, Professor of Law and son of Edward Said, as they set out a declaration of guiding principles, from which a liberated Palestine can be born, the full recording and transcript of which you can access here.
But for now, take these words and go forward,
“Liberating Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, is possible and within this generation.”
Thank you for reading
Sources & Further Reading
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Gil Scott-Heron
There’s A New World Coming, short film by me:
Balfour / Nakba
UN: 100 Years of the Balfour Declaration and its Impact on the Palestinian People
How Britain Destroyed the Palestinian Homeland, Al Jazeera, 2018
More Than a Century on the Balfour Declaration Explained, Al Jazeera 2018
The Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe, Explained, 2024
The Nakba Did Not Start or End in 1948, Al Jazeera, 2017
Arms Sales / Manufacture
Mapped: The UK Companies Arming Israel, Including Producers For the F-35 Combat Aircraft (Updated 20 Nov 2024, Accessed 22 Nov 2024)
Campaign Against Arms Trade’s country profile: Israel (Updated 11 Jan 2024, Accessed 22 Nov 2024)
UN votes in which the UK abstained
Oct 18, 2023 Humanitarian Pause vote
Nov 15, 2023 Humanitarian Pause vote
April 18, 2024 Palestine’s Admission as Full UN Member State
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This is great and super interesting! I love how you link it to the little boy, those are the things that really count and that’s only through collective mobilisation. The indictment by the ICC is a step further but still not enough… these cases usually take over 20+ years. Inshallah though as you say- in our lifetime!