“This is an important event for the Palestinian
prisoner.” – Dr. Sari Nussibeh
“We have to reinforce solidarity with
freedom-minded people all around the world.” –
Issa Qaraka
“The Abu Jihad center does solidarity work
movements for liberation.” – Dr. Fayed Abu
Al-Hajj
The Abu Jihad museum at Al Quds University is hosting
an international exhibition titled “George Jackson in
the Sun of Palestine,” which opened Oct. 20, 2015. It is
the first international exhibit of this center for
prisoner movement affairs located in the Abu Dis village
of Jerusalem. The exhibition links the Palestinian
prisoner struggle with the struggles of other political
prisoners around the world. It aims to raise
international awareness about the reality of prisoners
in general and what the Israeli Occupation State is
doing to harass Palestinian prisoners in particular.
The ceremonial opening of the exhibition was preceded
by a symposium focused on George Jackson, the Black
revolutionary prisoner of North America, and his
connection to Palestinian struggles, Palestinian writers
and Palestinian prisoners. His belief in the Palestinian
right to self-determination, a strong belief shared by
his comrades, was a central topic of discussion.
Speakers included Dr. Fayed Abu Al-Hajj, the head of
the Abu Jihad center, and Dr. Issa Qaraka, the head of
the Committee of Prisoner Affairs. Also speaking were
Sahar Francis, the director of Addameer (Prisoner
Support and Human Rights Association), and Greg Thomas,
a political activist and university professor visiting
Palestine from the United States.
The launch was attended by ex-prisoners themselves, as
well as Dr. Sari Nussibeh, a member of the Al Quds
University Board of Trustees; Dr. Imad Abu-Kishki, the
current president of the University; and Radi Al-Jarai,
the deputy minister of the Ministry of Prisoners and a
lecturer at Al Quds University, not to mention a range
of political activists and representatives from human
rights organizations and prisoner organizations. Many
media outlets were on hand to cover both the opening and
the symposium.
The Abu Jihad museum at Al Quds University is
hosting an international exhibition titled “George
Jackson in the Sun of Palestine,” which opened Oct.
20, 2015.
The exhibition generated a tremendously positive
reaction, collectively confirming the importance of
continuing to link people and activists who call for
freedom and liberation on a worldwide level.
Dr. Sari Nussibeh expressed his appreciation for the
Abu Jihad center’s enormous efforts in bringing this
exhibition to fruition. He pointed out that Al Quds
University, from its initial decision to house the Abu
Jihad center on campus, always wanted to make it an
active organization in terms of forging international
connections with political and human rights movements
enacting human liberation.
Nussibeh explained that enabling Palestinians to
experience an exhibit on the life of a prison activist
incarcerated in America is very important for the
Palestinian prisoner as well as American public opinion
on the matter of prisoners and imprisonment, and
asserted that he will be happy to see such activity
continue.
In his turn, Dr. Fayed Abu Al-Hajj expressed his
sincere happiness about being able to mount such an
exhibition, saying: “We, as the Abu Jihad center and the
Al Quds University family, consider the hosting of this
event to be like a Palestinian wedding. It is a coming
together for the Palestinian people, the female
prisoners as well as the male prisoners – not only the
Palestinians and the Arabs, but also for prisoners all
around the world.
“We are honored to host this historic exhibition that
bears the name of one of the great Black freedom
fighters in America, to honor his legacy as he spent his
life defending the ethics of liberty and being active
against oppression, injustice and exploitation.
“This exhibition will be a cornerstone of the Abu Jihad
center as we practice the vision of Dr. Nussibeh. He is
the one who made it possible for us to reach this stage
of the center’s work, a stage in which we are able to
communicate with the rest of the world, support them in
their causes, and win them over to stand up for our
cause.”
He pointed out that the Palestinian people know the
scale of the injustice and racism befalling Black
brothers and sisters in the United States. “In this
regard we remind the people of the whole world,
including the people of the United States, that our
people are facing racism, injustice and abuse in all its
forms at the hands of the Israeli occupation state. And
we demand that people stand firm in the face of
continued occupation and apply pressure on their
government to end their support for the occupation
state.”
“We are honored to host this historic exhibition
that bears the name of one of the great Black freedom
fighters in America, to honor his legacy as he spent
his life defending the ethics of liberty and being
active against oppression, injustice and
exploitation.”
Abu Al-Hajj also elaborated on the fighting life of
George Jackson, saying that Jackson was just like a
thousand Palestinian political prisoners. “He taught
himself from within his prison cell. He joined the Black
Panthers, which was active in confronting racism in the
United States. And we have occasion to remember their
struggle, especially when we feel the racism, oppression
and abuse has reached a peak.”
He also highlighted the importance of practicing
solidarity between popular struggles, as this provides
moral support for Palestinian prisoners who are caged in
Israeli dungeons. “And let’s remember the moment after
Jackson’s assassination, when the prison guards told his
mother, ‘We killed one of your sons last year, and we
killed yet another one of your sons today. Pretty soon
you’ll have no more sons left.’ She replied, ‘I have
sons all over the world wherever people are fighting for
freedom.’ It is amazing how many Palestinian mothers
have repeated these very words, especially when their
loved ones fall into the clutches of the Israeli
prisons.”
On another note, Abu Al-Hajj remarked that the Abu
Jihad center is very active in networking with the
international liberation movements, including those in
South Africa, reporting that when the vice president of
South Africa visited the center, he was astonished by
the quantity of materials in the museum and the cultural
and literary reservoir of the Palestinian political
prisoners.
The voice of freedom is one
On behalf of Al Quds University, Dr. Imad Abu Kishek
congratulated the Abu Jihad center on this great
achievement, affirming that Al Quds prioritizes the
issues of prisoners because they relate to such a broad
swath of Palestinian society. He added further that the
existence of the center’s exhibition featuring Jackson’s
political struggle is also beneficial to a wide range of
students and activists.
“It moves us to look at the prisoners from a wider lens
and to relate our struggles to the struggles of other
people who also suffer injustice and discrimination.” He
hopes that Abu Jihad center will continue to host
exhibitions hailing from different areas that support
the Palestinian cause.
Dr. Issa Qaraka thanked the center and the university
for their efforts in hosting the exhibition and the
opening symposium, “especially at this time when our
sons are rising up in the face of Israeli state
oppression, racism and injustice.” In this regard, he
pointed out that the face of oppression and injustice is
one and the voice of freedom is also one,
“internationally, everywhere.” “This is what unites
strugglers all around the world.”
He added that Jackson was killed in prison, just like
the Palestinian Abrahim Al-Raii was killed in his
Israeli prison cell. “The cell in which Jackson lived
under so much oppression and injustice is the same cell
in which thousands of male and female Palestinian
prisoners are suffering. They are suffering from
injustice, the denial of rights and attempted murder.
“Just as Jackson was offered bad food on a daily basis,
thousands of Palestinian prisoners are offered bad food.
Just as Jackson was forbidden books and such, our female
and male Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli dungeons
are daily denied literature, letters and educational
materials.
“The cell in which Jackson lived under so much
oppression and injustice is the same cell in which
thousands of male and female Palestinian prisoners are
suffering. They are suffering from injustice, the
denial of rights and attempted murder.”
“It is not even so strange to find a poem in Jackson’s
cell that was written by the Palestinian poet Samih
al-Qasim, titled ‘Enemy of the Sun.’ That poem united
freedom-minded people of the world. All the systematic
killing and oppression carried out by the Israeli
government are just manifestations of other systems that
were used against many other oppressed peoples.
“This is what guides us and strengthens our solidarity
with all the freedom-minded people of the world and with
the struggles of those who are on the road to freedom
and justice. We consider the USA to be the father of all
the oppression and injustice that befalls our people, as
the USA fertilizes and bolsters the Israeli occupation
state.”
Qaraka also pointed out that “Israel” is considered an
Apartheid state by all the world’s experts on the
subject. “Look at what’s happening now in the city of
Jerusalem and what happened earlier with the building
the Apartheid separation wall. Look at the ideology of
racism that is constantly fed to the Israeli youth.
“Look at the legal decisions of the Israeli courts. The
settlers commit crimes against Palestinian families with
impunity, while our sons are being sentenced to tens of
years in prison for any reaction to the violence of the
Israeli army and the settlers.”
“Let us not forget the denial of our most basic rights
in these courts. On this matter, Jackson had ‘put his
finger on the wound,’ the Palestinian wound that
continues to bleed. It is important to recognize that
what makes his experience so exemplary is that he
politically educated and re-socialized himself in the
prison, taking inspiration from the steadfastness of
Palestinian prisoners like Samih al-Qasim.
“And I believe the real reason for killing him was that
he drank from the ethics of liberation and the defense
of human rights.” He concluded, “We as Palestinian
people bring to life the legacy of all the freedom
fighters of the world through this display of Jackson’s
life.”
“We as Palestinian people bring to life the
legacy of all the freedom fighters of the world
through this display of Jackson’s life.”
Sahar Francis was also thankful that Abu Jihad has
organized this exhibit, stating that it is very
important to deepen and empower the relationship between
the Palestinian revolution and freedom fighters
internationally. She focused on solidarity that has
already been forged between many organizations,
especially those that challenge prisons, policies
against political activists, and the many companies that
facilitate and profit from the “security” complex of the
U.S. and Israeli prison systems.
Most notable here is “G4S,” the British multinational
“security” company that is the world’s largest such
company. “We recently learned that Bill Gates was
supporting them and is investing in them. In response,
we activists applied abundant pressure on him to
withdraw his investment. And we succeeded.”
She added that this is proof that we can do much more
when we work in partnership with international
organizations. “It is necessary to network with other
struggles. Then we will bring to justice all the
companies that violate international law.”
Francis observed that the Israeli occupation state is
benefiting from every method of oppression and
exploitation that has been practiced by other
governments in their attempts to destroy Palestinian
society. “As we see in multiple situations and
scenarios, arrest or detention is an aim in and of
itself for the Israeli occupation state, which operates
in exactly the same manner in the United States of
America.
“An example of this is in the schools – whenever a
Black student violates any kind of rule, he or she will
be subjected to the worst punishment, which may entail
actual imprisonment, which may then lead to denial of
social services, which may further lead to denial of
employment or work. This is exactly what Israel is doing
by targeting school kids.
“Another example is what recently passed in the Israeli
Parliament, a law that allows the force-feeding of
prisoners, as practiced by the United States government
in Guantanamo. All of this compels us to continue
cooperation with the freedom-minded people of the
world.”
The U.S.-based scholar and activist Greg Thomas
presented his sincere thanks to Abu Jihad center,
represented by the director, Dr. Fayed Abu Al-Hajj,
whose full support led to the successful hosting of this
exhibition. Thomas emphasized that the center powerfully
represents the ongoing and historical struggles of the
Palestinian people.
Thomas explained that many international activists
regularly celebrate the legacy of George Jackson, and
that Abu Jihad center, as an institution that genuinely
appreciates the role of prisoners as thinkers and
militants, is perhaps the best place to host an
exhibition on this great revolutionary fighter for
freedom.
He added that Jackson was an enemy of colonialism,
racism and capitalism. He said Jackson became a legend
inside the prisons and outside of them. A revolutionary
role model for his fellow inmates, he completed two
books in prison, one of which was published after prison
guards assassinated him, on Aug. 21, 1971, when he was
only 29 years old.
The French writer Jean Genet, a supporter of the
Palestinian struggle, wrote the introduction for
Jackson’s first book, “Soledad Brother,” describing it
as “a striking poem of love and combat.” The manuscript
for Jackson’s second book, “Blood in My Eye,” was
smuggled out of the prison shortly before the state
assassinated him.
Thomas maintained that Jackson is still alive and
present in the souls of world revolutionaries against
oppression. And he lives on in the nightmares of
oppressive systems – a symbol of uncompromising freedom.
From prison, Jackson would join the Black Panther
Party, a legendary organ for Black power in the United
States and a party that supported the Palestinian
struggle. This led to the establishment of a Palestinian
group under the same name in the 1980s. Palestinian
revolutionaries inspired Jackson and his Black Panthers,
while Jackson is himself considered to be the architect
of the modern anti-prison movement in the U.S.
Finally, Radi Al-Jarai agreed that this type of
exhibition is very helpful for the Palestinian
prisoners’ cause, since it connects this liberation
struggle to those of freedom-minded people around the
world. It also reminds us of the extent to which the
Palestinian struggle has inspired other movements for
justice, as well as other poets and writers, across the
world.
But perhaps most importantly it increases the level of
historical awareness among Palestinian youth of the
history of oppression of Blacks in the United States,
the ways they maintain opposition against it and the
heavy price to be paid for freedom in the struggle for
liberation.
This story was translated by Mahmoud Muna.
