Our Palestinian Flag Waves High
My name is Izzy Mustafa. I am happy to join Adalah Justice Project (again). I will be connecting you to voices and events in occupied Palestine where I am currently based.
We have been on edge watching Zionist escalations and provocations. We’ve seen violent attacks on Al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan, witnessed almost daily announcements of the killing of young martyrs, and watched in horror the execution of beloved journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the subsequent attack on her funeral procession. We add this all to the daily violence and abuses that a colonizing project must maintain. We are still tired and recovering from last year’s uprisings and the horrific attacks on Gaza. The atmosphere is heavy.
Zionist desperation and barbarity are more rabid. Attacks on Palestinians are more frequent, and settlements are expanding at an unprecedented rate. The settler colonial project is in overdrive.
But it is the Palestinian flag that stops desperate Zionists in their tracks. The flag is a constant reminder that the indigenous Palestinians are the rightful inhabitants of the land. It is the nagging admonition that they are the invaders, and Palestinians are not going away. Have you seen the outrageous soldier attacks on young children with the Palestinian flag on their bikes? Have you seen how the occupying forces harass young women wearing the colors of the flag? This is settler anxiety on full display.
In Hawara, just south of Nablus, Palestinians are resisting settlement expansion and attacks by simply raising the Palestinian flag. I have never seen such an overblown response by the army. I go to Hawara frequently to run errands for my grandmother who lives nearby. The road that runs through Hawara is the main route into Nablus and is the entryway to some of the most violent and ideological settlements in the West Bank. Both Israeli settlers and Palestinians share this road. Until recently, Palestinian shopkeepers in Hawara benefitted economically from settlers who would visit their stores. Along the main road, it is common to see shop signs in both Arabic and Hebrew. Now there is a constant back and forth between Palestinian youth and the occupying army and settlers to raise and lower the flag.
The area surrounding Hawara and nearby villages like mine are surrounded by menacing hilltops sprawl of trailer homes flying Israeli flags. One of these hills, Mount Sbeih is occupied by settlers, land that belongs to the village of Beita, a community that is actively resisting the robbery of their land. Palestinians in Hawara and the surrounding villages face daily attacks and harassment from Israeli settlers. In the last few days alone, Israeli settlers have burned olive groves in Madama, attacked a middle school in Urif, and ambushed homes in Hawara.
The Zionist regime tries to invoke fear in us, but instead it only makes us more defiant. Resistance is contagious. This is why the incessant raising of the Palestinian flag in Hawara is so significant. Passivity fades with time. Young people across Palestine inspire each other to continue the struggle.
Driving through Palestine, I am inspired by communities, small and large, raising the Palestinian flag. It is a message to the colonizers that we will continue to resist and struggle for our land and our identity.
With love and solidarity,
Izzy Mustafa
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