Between the dream of freedom and bitterness of occupation.
The long -awaited dream of return is no longer an obsession or a dream, but a road that began to be paved from the first day of the first step in the distance of a thousand miles to achieve the desired goal of return, the right of self-determination and the establishment of a Palestinian state through the Palestinian resistance.
In the fight against the occupation, the spilled blood of the martyrs will enrich the land and the cause of the Palestinians. The sacrifice of the people will not go to waste and the truth will rise with the realization of the rights and glory of the Palestinian people.
At the beginning of April each year, Palestinians mark the anniversary of the Battle of Jenin so that it will remain immortal in the mind of all Palestinians throughout the years of their lives. Despite the difference in equipment between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli soldiers, the Palestinian resistance was able to subjugate and humiliate the occupation. The entire world witnessed their courage and heroism. Stories of heroic fighters are either victory or martyrdom.
During the second Palestinian uprising (Al Aqsa Intifada ), as part of Operation Defensive Shield, hundreds of Palestinians’Â houses were demolished, 56 Palestinians were murdered, hundreds were wounded, and many Israeli soldiers were killed. The massive damage led medical teams to come from Canada, France, and Italy with trucks carrying supplies and water.
According to International Human rights organizations, the death among the Palestinians was hard to imagine. Many of those who were killed were buried during the battle of Jenin, while others remained inside the camp. Israeli forces remained, occupying the camp for several days and denying international organizations from entering the camp in order to erase the evidence of the Massacre.
Thirty -six-year-old Fidaa Sammar, is a Palestinian artist born in the town of Al- Yamoon in the city of Jenin, in the West Bank. She remembered the days of invasion of her city, in the first day of April in 2002.
Fidaa Sammar is a Palestinian artist who shared her paintings with me about the Palestinian struggle to prove the deep-rooted Palestinian identity. Her art embodies tales of Palestinian bravery, contributions, and resistance.
Fidaa Sammar expressed the painful memories that will not be forgotten, whether by the camp residents themselves or the Palestinian people. She was a college student in the school of Art in Khadouree in Tulkarem (22 years old). The people of Jenin camp proved their resistance by their steadfastness despite the fear and death. Sammar recalls, “I don’t remember that we slept the night or the day, the houses open to each other, and the women of the camp prepared food for the resistance before feeding the people of the house.”
Fidaa continued her story about Jenin: “We hear only the words ‘Allah Akbar,’ which means Allah is greater. We were out of power for almost three weeks. Tanks entered the city of Jenin.”
“Every evening , we sat together , we listened to the news on the radio, we spent our time in distress, telling each other stories until we deluded ourselves, and when everyone slept, I was alone, thinking about what would happen tomorrow, we will remain so, and whether we will survive or die.” Fidaa distracted herself by painting. She always believed in her talent and the beauty of art. To Fidaa, the value of her art comes from the message of the Palestinian cause, which is never absent from her paintings
Fidaa Sammar’s artistic feather draws paintings about the dream of return to Jerusalem, Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian women, the beauty of Palestine, and dreams of freedom and peace. Her contributions have spread to countries outside of Palestine. She has had prominent exhibitions and has won contests.
Fidaa Sammar, remains optimistic that the occupation is about to disappear from our beloved Palestine on the heels of the stories of the Palestinians’ steadfastness (Sumud). The confiscation of Palestinian land has not ended yet, and the Israeli policy of uprooting and displacement attempts to stifle the future of Palestinians.
For Fidaa Sammar, as for other Palestinians, Palestinian Land Day has become a national Palestinian day. Palestinians commemorate this day with protests, vigils, chanting Palestinian anthems that demonstrate steadfastness, and raising slogans calling to end land confiscations and Israeli settlements.
The policy of looting and massacres that were behind the Nakba, and the displacement of most of the Palestinians from their land, are no longer effective. The Palestinians, after absorbing shock, have not yet delineated the path to be followed by the slogan: “Don’t waste right behind demands.”
Seventy years have passed since the Nakba, after the displacement of a large number of Palestinians in the diaspora. Education is the only way to improve their social and economic conditions, and because of the success of the first intifada, the international community has been interested in recognizing the right of the Palestinian people to build an independent state and Right of return for the Palestinians who were displaced due to the catastrophe of 1948 , and 1967.
The March of Return, which was launched on the anniversary of the Land Day, imposed new facts. The most important is that it revealed to the Palestinians the right of the return to self determination and to establish their independent state, refusing to bargain for their legitimate rights.
Its true that the steadfastness (Sumud) of Palestinians sent a clear message to the American administration and Israel that the bells of return have begun ringing and will not stop until they reach the goal of Free state for Palestinians.