Salah Hamouri
I joined the struggle for Palestinian liberation when I was a teenager. I’ve been wounded by gunshot and was first arrested when I was sixteen. From 2001 until today, things haven’t fundamentally changed for me — whether that’s prison, injuries, house arrests, or travel bans. I’ve spent years barred from seeing my children and wife. I was ultimately “deported” to France in 2022. I know that’s a very loaded word in France — touching on the country’s deep guilt for its treatment of Jewish people.
When I arrived here in France, the attacks on me continued. The interior minister at the time, Gérald Darmanin, spoke out against me in parliament. Far-right and pro-Israel members of parliament, or figures in the media, have continued to attack me. This is only the latest chapter in the harassment of the Palestinian community and its allies.
It also shows we’re on the right side of history. Israel is a colonial outpost for Europe and the United States. Everything they’ve done has been to rubber-stamp Israel’s genocide. Just the other week, France opened its airspace to allow Netanyahu to fly over, defying the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him.
For me, the battle here in France is a battle for French society as well as for the liberation of Palestine. One thing that the last nearly two years have shown is how much the question of Palestine is shaking politics around the world.
Great Job Salah Hamouri & the Team @ Jacobin Source link for sharing this story.
