The Victory of Palestinian Prisoners: A Victory for All Fighters for Justice and Freedom

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

After a 40-day-long battle involving more than 1,700 Palestinian prisoners, the detainees of the Freedom and Dignity movement forced the Israeli occupation authorities to meet their demands. Through a heroic confrontation fought with their empty stomachs, they resisted the Zionist jailer’s relentless attempts to break the strike. These attempts included forced feeding, denying them salt, and even fabricating a video of Marwan Barghouti—the Palestinian leader heading the strike—allegedly eating. Yet the scheme backfired, further strengthening the prisoners’ determination to continue.

The strike resulted in an agreement between the Israeli Prison Service, the Palestinian Authority, and the Red Cross to allow families of prisoners a second monthly visit. However, the prisoners’ demands extend beyond visitation rights—they also fight for improved living conditions and abolishing administrative detention.

This victory was only possible due to the prisoners’ heroic endurance throughout the hunger strike, which began on April 17. It was not achieved through the humiliating negotiations conducted by the Palestinian Authority, which has submissively aligned itself with the Zionist enemy.

This triumph sets a precedent, marking a moment when Israel was forced to surrender on the battlefield to the leaders of the strike—individuals it has long tried to defame and discredit.

The victory came after more than 950 hours of hunger, endured not only in defiance of the occupation but also against those who had placed their hands in the hands of the occupier—chief among them the Palestinian Authority’s security coordination forces, which sought to sabotage the strike from its earliest days.

This victory revives the Palestinian struggle and reaffirms that the Palestinian people are capable of facing and overcoming challenges, even in their weakest state, as prisoners with no weapon but hunger. It reinforces that the Palestinian people should not be seen as helpless victims of imperialist powers and the Zionist entity, which serves as their enforcer in the region.

The victory also lays bare the hypocrisy of those who selectively stand with Palestinian detainees—opposing Zionist crimes while remaining silent about the atrocities committed by Bashar al-Assad against Palestinians in his prisons.

In a region shrouded in darkness, the victory shines like a bright star in the Arab sky. The Arab world is currently experiencing one of its most difficult times, as counter-revolutionary forces and authoritarian regimes have cemented their rule by imprisoning activists, crushing revolutions, and deluding themselves into believing they can rule forever with poverty, repression, and alliances with Zionism and imperialism.
This victory belongs not only to the prisoners but to everyone who sees the Palestinian cause as a compass for resistance and a driving force to bring down oppressive regimes in the Arab world.

Freedom for all prisoners in the jails of the occupation and all detainees held by Sisi, Bashar, and other tyrants in the region.

Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people.