We Salute the Resilience of the People of Al-Warraq and Reject Their Displacement, Calling for Solidarity with Them

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

The residents of Al-Warraq Island have faced a new phase of violence and ongoing repression over the past few days, which has persisted for more than five years to displace them from their homes. Officials from the Armed Forces Engineering Authority attempted to survey the houses in preparation for their demolition, an action that was met with protests from the residents. In response, security forces fired tear gas, arrested dozens of residents, and closed the ferries, the main lifeline to the island, throughout Tuesday.

However, the resistance of the residents over the past few days forced the security forces to release all the detainees hours after interrogating them at National Security Agency offices. This resilience and continuous resistance from the island’s residents since the security forces attempted to storm it in July 2017—an attack that resulted in the martyrdom of Sayed Al-Tafshan and the injury of dozens—represent the sole thorn in the regime’s side and the obstacle to implementing the plan to convert the homes of people experiencing poverty into recreational and investment resorts for the benefit of Gulf capital.

The latest step was preceded by the regime’s assault on the fundamental human rights of the island’s residents by closing the only health unit on the island, the post office, and other essential services to increase pressure and siege on the residents. The only remaining facilities for the residents are the water station and the ferries, which they fear might be deprived of in the coming period.
At the same time, the regime carries out its media deception by describing such projects, which seize the lands and homes of Al-Warraq Island residents and other neighborhoods, under the guise of “development,” while this development is not for the benefit of the residents but for the regime’s investment projects.

While we salute the continuous resistance and bravery of the residents over the years, we categorically reject the expulsion of the residents from their homes and lands for investment projects from which the residents will not benefit in any way and will only serve the interests of capital and the upper classes. We call on all political and union forces to stand in solidarity with the island’s residents in their steadfastness against attempts to forcibly displace them.