"Why do we resist an enemy stronger than us?
"Analyzing the conflict between us and the enemy, it is purely an existential struggle for sure. If I don't die now, effectively, the enemy seeks to annihilate me. So, if they don't kill me quickly or very quickly, in the end, I am in the process of being annihilated.
"The idea of resisting this enemy, who might be capable of annihilating me, and most likely, in abstract terms and power calculations, yes, is capable of annihilation [genocide]. However, the idea is to refuse to be easily annihilated. At least, if you can't prevent them from annihilating you, don't let them do it with joy or easily.
"The second idea is existential: I can live while sitting in my home, living and taking care of myself and my family, my wife, my mother, and my father...
"But then we pose the existential question, why am I alive? What is the meaning of this life without dignity, without the ability to hold my head high?
"The concepts of honor, pride, and dignity have a very significant role, how much we can deconstruct them or not, I think it's difficult; because it's something that clings to the soul more than it clings to material factors."
- Basil Al-Araj.
"Analyzing the conflict between us and the enemy, it is purely an existential struggle for sure. If I don't die now, effectively, the enemy seeks to annihilate me. So, if they don't kill me quickly or very quickly, in the end, I am in the process of being annihilated.
"The idea of resisting this enemy, who might be capable of annihilating me, and most likely, in abstract terms and power calculations, yes, is capable of annihilation [genocide]. However, the idea is to refuse to be easily annihilated. At least, if you can't prevent them from annihilating you, don't let them do it with joy or easily.
"The second idea is existential: I can live while sitting in my home, living and taking care of myself and my family, my wife, my mother, and my father...
"But then we pose the existential question, why am I alive? What is the meaning of this life without dignity, without the ability to hold my head high?
"The concepts of honor, pride, and dignity have a very significant role, how much we can deconstruct them or not, I think it's difficult; because it's something that clings to the soul more than it clings to material factors."
- Basil Al-Araj.
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On the fourth anniversary of his martyrdom, Basil's father spoke of his legacy, showcasing his son's possessions in their Walaja home.
His father smiles while showing the shoe Basil wore until his final breath while resisting the occupation. "Nothing but this shoe defended him."
"His shoe reminds me that he fought alone...His shoe remained with him until the end."
He shows some of Basil's prized possessions: a tile from martyr Ghassan Kanafani's home in Haifa, a tile from Leila Khaled's home in Haifa, and his handwritten will, written in his final moments.
"When you miss Basil, what do you do?"
"I always miss Basil. Today, we can see his videos. I don't search for them; they are always present on Facebook, healing my soul."
Is Basil alive?
"After his martyrdom, I know of about 17 children named after Basil."
The martyr never dies. Rather, they live in our sprit and every moment of our struggle.
His father smiles while showing the shoe Basil wore until his final breath while resisting the occupation. "Nothing but this shoe defended him."
"His shoe reminds me that he fought alone...His shoe remained with him until the end."
He shows some of Basil's prized possessions: a tile from martyr Ghassan Kanafani's home in Haifa, a tile from Leila Khaled's home in Haifa, and his handwritten will, written in his final moments.
"When you miss Basil, what do you do?"
"I always miss Basil. Today, we can see his videos. I don't search for them; they are always present on Facebook, healing my soul."
Is Basil alive?
"After his martyrdom, I know of about 17 children named after Basil."
The martyr never dies. Rather, they live in our sprit and every moment of our struggle.
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📽 WATCH:
Today in Nablus, residents were asked "who is this?"
"The revolutionary intellectual," they answered, on the sixth anniversary of Basil Al-Araj's martyrdom.
The father of Lions' Den founder and leader, martyr Wadie Al-Houh responded, "This is the role model of the youth, the shield of Palestine. This is a giant among the giants of Palestine. This is Basil Al-Araj."
Another resident said, "He is the revolutionary intellectual for whom 99% of the Lions' Den consider their role model. Is there anybody who doesn't know him?"
Today in Nablus, residents were asked "who is this?"
"The revolutionary intellectual," they answered, on the sixth anniversary of Basil Al-Araj's martyrdom.
The father of Lions' Den founder and leader, martyr Wadie Al-Houh responded, "This is the role model of the youth, the shield of Palestine. This is a giant among the giants of Palestine. This is Basil Al-Araj."
Another resident said, "He is the revolutionary intellectual for whom 99% of the Lions' Den consider their role model. Is there anybody who doesn't know him?"
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Resistance begins with you. Shatter the walls surrounding your mind.
"Liberate your mind before the land," in the words of the revolutionary intellectual martyr Basil Al-Araj.
Basil calls on us to challenge to perceived invincibility of oppressive forces: their power comes not from their weapons, but from our own minds.
"Start with yourself." Take direct action to challenge oppression, as Basil did. Recognize your own capacity to create change. It is a battle to reclaim minds, dignity, and land.
Khaled Odetalah, in mourning Basil, said: "Basil did not call on us to be resistance fighters. Nor did he call on us to be revolutionaries. Basil told us to be true; that is all. If you are true, you will be revolutionaries and resistance fighters."
"Liberate your mind before the land," in the words of the revolutionary intellectual martyr Basil Al-Araj.
Basil calls on us to challenge to perceived invincibility of oppressive forces: their power comes not from their weapons, but from our own minds.
"Start with yourself." Take direct action to challenge oppression, as Basil did. Recognize your own capacity to create change. It is a battle to reclaim minds, dignity, and land.
Khaled Odetalah, in mourning Basil, said: "Basil did not call on us to be resistance fighters. Nor did he call on us to be revolutionaries. Basil told us to be true; that is all. If you are true, you will be revolutionaries and resistance fighters."
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"Oslo was a mistake. We do not recognize 'israel' or its legitimacy, and we want the downfall of this entity.
Palestine in its totality is 27,027km squared."
The fugitive, prisoner, fighter, intellectual, and martyr Basil Al-Araj, after he was beaten by traitorous Palestinian Authority Forces while protesting with martyr Sheikh Khader Adnan.
Palestine in its totality is 27,027km squared."
The fugitive, prisoner, fighter, intellectual, and martyr Basil Al-Araj, after he was beaten by traitorous Palestinian Authority Forces while protesting with martyr Sheikh Khader Adnan.
🚩 Glory to the educated and resistant rifle. The words of the Lions' Den echo the words of the revolutionary intellectual Basil Al-Araj, and the words of countless martyrs.
"You want to be an intellectual? Then you must resist. Otherwise you and your education are useless." - the martyr Basil Al-Araj
"The fighter who is not politically conscious, it is as if they are pointing the barrel at their chest" - Al-Hakim George Habash
"The gun that has neither science nor culture behind it kills but does not liberate." - the martyr Ahmed Al-Jabari, Abu Mohammed
"Struggle from the Darkness,” pictured here, was the last book read by martyred resistance fighter Ashraf Na'awla, who evaded capture by zionist forces for two months after a successful operation that killed two settlers. It is a book widely read in the zionist prisons.
Glory, all glory to the conscious fighter!
"You want to be an intellectual? Then you must resist. Otherwise you and your education are useless." - the martyr Basil Al-Araj
"The fighter who is not politically conscious, it is as if they are pointing the barrel at their chest" - Al-Hakim George Habash
"The gun that has neither science nor culture behind it kills but does not liberate." - the martyr Ahmed Al-Jabari, Abu Mohammed
"Struggle from the Darkness,” pictured here, was the last book read by martyred resistance fighter Ashraf Na'awla, who evaded capture by zionist forces for two months after a successful operation that killed two settlers. It is a book widely read in the zionist prisons.
Glory, all glory to the conscious fighter!
"Resistance is continually benefitting. Whatever you pay in resistance, if you don't reap it in your lifetime, you will get the results later." —the revolutionary, resisting martyr Basil Al-Araj
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🟢 Martyr Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades:
—
Watch: Today, Al-Qassam Brigades fired a missile salvo from northern Gaza towards our occupied lands.
Al-Aqsa Flood.
—
Note: The paper near the launcher reads, "Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood. Resistance is a continuous benefit. Al-Qassam Brigades. 29-12-2023."
The phrase, "Resistance is a continuous benefit" is a phrase attributed to martyr Basil Al-Araj.
—
Watch: Today, Al-Qassam Brigades fired a missile salvo from northern Gaza towards our occupied lands.
Al-Aqsa Flood.
—
Note: The paper near the launcher reads, "Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood. Resistance is a continuous benefit. Al-Qassam Brigades. 29-12-2023."
The phrase, "Resistance is a continuous benefit" is a phrase attributed to martyr Basil Al-Araj.
"They give us corruption... We give them revolution."
The same traitorous forces that chased Basil continue to chase our heroic fighters, leaders, and students today.
The same traitorous forces that chased Basil continue to chase our heroic fighters, leaders, and students today.
Palestine alone is not the compass; Palestine's armed resistance is.
Where you stand on the resistance reveals the depth of your humanity. So raise the standard, and normalize the inalienable right of Palestinians to resist by any means necessary.
Where you stand on the resistance reveals the depth of your humanity. So raise the standard, and normalize the inalienable right of Palestinians to resist by any means necessary.
"Why do we go to War?" is a translation of one of martyr Basil Al-Araj's most meaningful posthumously published essays.
"We remember Basil. Basil would look around with a humble nod to acknowledge those who gathered, but when he spoke, the uncontestable truth in his words bellowed loudly and captured the gaze of all. He gave our broken hearts courage as we watched the calamity of Ramallah's USAID and normalization enclave consume and manipulate our people. The cowardly Palestinian Authority could not debate with Basil. All they could do was try to silence him. And even in that, they failed.
"Basil keeps Palestine in front of our eyes and continues to tear down the deceptive enemies. He was not reactionary, but was a good teacher who laid out the context for us to arrive at the only conclusion a people under occupation should reach: liberation is in the path of truth. There is no room for deception when walls and checkpoints suffocate.
"His words live here and everywhere, and for us who shared tea with him and released deep sighs under the clouds of occupation, his words live in our lonely footsteps in exile as a lesson and practice to uphold. However uncomfortable and contrary to the institutions of power, we must speak out. He was willing to die to liberate land and minds.
"The Palestinian Authority of normalization hunted Basil and played a significant role in coordinating with the enemy to silence Basil. They hated how Basil taught resistance.
"Basil ascended to martyrdom in a multi-hour firefight by zionist gunfire in Qaddoura Refugee Camp, not far from Ramallah's city center where traitors were hung in days gone. Now, it is the traitors leading the executions of revolutionaries and in return they get rewarded a Congress aid package as a bounty."
"We remember Basil. Basil would look around with a humble nod to acknowledge those who gathered, but when he spoke, the uncontestable truth in his words bellowed loudly and captured the gaze of all. He gave our broken hearts courage as we watched the calamity of Ramallah's USAID and normalization enclave consume and manipulate our people. The cowardly Palestinian Authority could not debate with Basil. All they could do was try to silence him. And even in that, they failed.
"Basil keeps Palestine in front of our eyes and continues to tear down the deceptive enemies. He was not reactionary, but was a good teacher who laid out the context for us to arrive at the only conclusion a people under occupation should reach: liberation is in the path of truth. There is no room for deception when walls and checkpoints suffocate.
"His words live here and everywhere, and for us who shared tea with him and released deep sighs under the clouds of occupation, his words live in our lonely footsteps in exile as a lesson and practice to uphold. However uncomfortable and contrary to the institutions of power, we must speak out. He was willing to die to liberate land and minds.
"The Palestinian Authority of normalization hunted Basil and played a significant role in coordinating with the enemy to silence Basil. They hated how Basil taught resistance.
"Basil ascended to martyrdom in a multi-hour firefight by zionist gunfire in Qaddoura Refugee Camp, not far from Ramallah's city center where traitors were hung in days gone. Now, it is the traitors leading the executions of revolutionaries and in return they get rewarded a Congress aid package as a bounty."
WhyDoWeGoToWar.pdf
152.9 KB
"By Basil's side lay his famous glasses, his kuffiyeh, and his writings, including his will. His writings were compiled into a book, “I Have Found My Answers,” (a line from his will), published posthumously."
In this essay, Basil asks his unidentified dear friend, “Why do we go to war?” Weaving history, physics, philosophy, film, and mythology together, he arrives at an answer: romanticism.
Read it here, for the first time in English: archive and attached.
Listen to it here, in Arabic.
In this essay, Basil asks his unidentified dear friend, “Why do we go to war?” Weaving history, physics, philosophy, film, and mythology together, he arrives at an answer: romanticism.
Read it here, for the first time in English: archive and attached.
Listen to it here, in Arabic.
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Via Al-Mayadeen English:
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Bassel Al-Araj, a Palestinian activist, was known as the engaged intellectual. He dedicated himself to studying Palestinian history, especially that of the Palestinian resistance, sharing detailed experiences of revolutionaries as he set the Resistance as his main focus throughout his life.
Bassel led popular field trips titled “Tours in the History of the Resistance” in occupied Palestine. During these tours, he discussed Zionist settlements and their connection to Palestinian resistance.
Today, we recall some of those tours in al-Araj’s voice to learn more about the Palestinian struggle for freedom.
—
Bassel Al-Araj, a Palestinian activist, was known as the engaged intellectual. He dedicated himself to studying Palestinian history, especially that of the Palestinian resistance, sharing detailed experiences of revolutionaries as he set the Resistance as his main focus throughout his life.
Bassel led popular field trips titled “Tours in the History of the Resistance” in occupied Palestine. During these tours, he discussed Zionist settlements and their connection to Palestinian resistance.
Today, we recall some of those tours in al-Araj’s voice to learn more about the Palestinian struggle for freedom.