In Solidarity with the People of Palestine. From Zimbabwe.

By Takura Zhangazha*

In many activist circles we are very familiar with the importance of acquiring regional and international solidarity for our struggle causes.  It is a solidarity that we generally anticipate will take many forms but above all else  recognizes the significance and importance of the struggles that we are waging by people who would otherwise not be concerned. 

In Southern Africa we grew up on a diet of struggle solidarity.  From a Zimbabwean perspective our own liberation struggle would not have been successful without this regional and international solidarity.  Particularly as led by the Frontline States (now incorporated into SADC).  As it is probably the same for South African and Namibian liberation struggles. 

We also had solidarity from geographically distant countries such as Cuba, China, the then USSR (now Russia), Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and Guinea to name just a few. 

And this solidarity did not end there.  In our struggle there were other liberation movements that while waging their own fights against oppression stood by us.  And one of the most outstanding ones was the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as led by the late revolutionary Yasser Arafat. 

After our national independence, we generally knew that there was the question of Palestinian freedom because it was always mentioned in various state events.  Or by seeing the local Palestinian ambassador to Zimbabwe on television explaining his people's struggles against repression and occupation. Also by way of news reports about what has now come to be generally referred to as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

In the late 1990s there was a shift in these assumptions of solidarity.  Largely motivated by a post cold-war global international relations system and a false assumption about the indefatigable nature of neoliberal ideology.

Moreover we also began to face our own internal political and economic challenges wrought by the same neoliberal ideological turn of events to the extent that we were no longer keen on giving solidarity to other people's struggles.  

Instead we sought more regional and international solidarity for ourselves in one respect or the other. Either in support of Mugabe’s then newfound radical nationalism or Tsvangirai’s then social democracy proposition. 

In this, we sought more and more to be a global centre of attention surpassing all other long standing struggles with what I now consider in hindsight as vainglorious vanity.  But it was understandable given the global interest in what was happening over here.  We just lost sight of the fact that our Zimbabwean struggles and challenges were and still are not the only ongoing ones in the world. 

And this is why I wrote this blog.  Recent events in the Gaza strip where there have been bombings carried out by Israel which have tragically led to the killing of hundreds of Palestinians including children made me pause and reflect on the meaning of solidarity.

While I am not an expert on the Middle East,  I know that Zimbabwe has always stood with the people of Palestine.  As much as they stood by us during our own liberation struggles.   And it is apparent that while our struggle for liberation ended. Theirs has not.

And comrades tend to mix issues up about this.  The Palestinian struggle for liberation is quite literally about their loss of land in 1948.  An historical process that they refer to as the Al Nakba (catastrophe).  And in the now they are still losing even the little land they have left as reported in the mainstream global and social media. Hence their latest resistance.

I however also know that the state of Israel in its existence means many things to many Africans this side of the Sahara.  And mainly for religious reasons.  I even have friends that may scream for solidarity on many matters but not on the matter of the liberation of the people of Palestine.  They are no doubt entitled to their view and also their religious persuasions. 

What is however important is the fact of the historical reality that the people of Palestine are a dispossessed and repressed people.  Whichever way you want to look at it.  As we once were.   And there’s the rub which can never be wished away with platitudes or political or religious correctness. 

In the tradition of the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) we would do well to remember that we historically share the same struggles as the people of Palestine. And that we must stand by and with them.

In my personal reflections on solidarity across borders I asked myself  questions as to what does it mean to be human in the contemporary?  Is it to assume isolation? Is to gain proximity to power and privilege?  Is it to be politically or religiously correct? Is it to have money?  The answer I still came to is that to be human is to recognize the historical and organic equal humanity of others.  No matter their colour, creed, gender or religion.

That is why on Palestine I will never self-censor. Palestine and its people must be free. #FreePalestine

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)