On July 17, pro-Palestine Lebanese revolutionary Georges Abdallah was ordered to be released by French courts after serving 41 years in prison, France’s longest-serving political prisoner. He was released and deported to his home country of Lebanon on Friday (07/25) after decades of US intervention to prevent his release. Abdallah had been imprisoned since 1984 and was given a life sentence due to his alleged involvement in the assassinations of a US military officer and Israeli diplomat in Paris.
Abdallah has remained unwavering in his principles. The following is a transcription of his conversation with reporters upon arriving in Lebanon, followed by a speech he delivered to a large crowd outside the airport celebrating his return. The transcriptions are based on translations provided by Free Palestine TV and Al Mayadeen.
I endured 41 years in prison, thanks to the resilience rooted here. The struggle against the enemy has prevailed. We must continue fighting it until it is completely driven out. Israel is living the last chapter of its existence. This is the last chapter. There is no other chapter.
Why are you released now?
I was released because of your movement. You are the only ones that released me from prison. There is no question of justice hanging from heaven. It’s an issue of balance of power. When keeping a prisoner in prison becomes more costly than his release—thanks to solidarity and the solidarity movements that fall within the framework of the struggle—prisoners are released.
What do you say to the resistance and Palestine which you are a part of?
The resistance in Palestine must continue and intensify. It must be up to the level of the current situation where we see children as moving skeletons. You look at them and you see skeletons moving. Still there are millions of Arabs simply watching. A few meters away from Egypt’s al-Azhar Mosque, and a few meters away from the Kaaba of Mohammed bin Abdullah [Prophet Mohammad], the children of Palestine are dying of hunger. Meters away from 80 million followers of Mohammed bin Abdullah in Egypt, the children of Palestine are dying due to hunger. Such a shame for all the Arab peoples, which will go down in history even more than the regimes. We know how these regimes are. How many people were killed in attempts to storm Gaza? None, no one was killed. If 2 million Egyptians take to the streets, the mass killing would stop. The genocidal war would come to an end. The issue hinges on the Egyptian masses specifically, more than anyone else.
What do you say to the martyrs of the resistance?
We will bow before them, today, tomorrow, and the day after, till the end of time. They are the primary base, the primary base for any idea of liberation.
Did you expect to return to this land one day?
Of course, my return to this land was inevitable because I am certain that the resistance is entrenched in this land and thus cannot be uprooted. As long as there is resistance, there is a return to the homeland and to all prisoners. The resistance is not weak, it is strong thanks to its martyrs. Its leaders are martyrs so the resistance is strong. A weak resistance is when its leaders are traitors. The leaders of our resistance are not traitors. Our resistance is led by martyrs, and therefore martyrs created a waterfall of resistance blood.
What is your message to the people waiting for you outside?
My message is to rally around the resistance more than ever. Today more than ever. Children’s skeletons are seen shaking while millions of Arabs watch. It’s shameful for any Arab to watch. Greta is coming, an 18-year-old woman comes from Sweden to show solidarity with Gaza. We ask, where are Egypt’s sons and daughters? Where are Egypt’s women? Where are Egypt’s men? We don’t ask where the rebels are! Where are the ordinary people? A minimum of dignity! Every time a European takes action in Europe—in Paris, in London, in Rome, in Milan, people are moving, the youth in Spain and Ireland—where are they here? Where are the movements in Egypt? When we say in Egypt there are 104 million, how many millions took to the street? It’s enough for one million to take to the Gaza border to end the massacre, to end the war of extermination. One million! One million!
Georges Abdallah’s speeches at his rallies:
The condition of freedom, the condition of freedom for all of us, equally, the condition of freedom is to rally around the resistance. The condition of freedom is to rally around Gaza. The condition of freedom is to rally around the martyrs of the resistance. The condition of freedom is holding onto Gaza. The condition of freedom is to hold on to saving Gaza. The condition of freedom is for the Arab masses to rise. The condition of freedom demands Egypt’s masses into the streets. Masses of Egypt! The masses of Egypt must take to the streets. This is the condition of freedom for all of us. The condition of freedom is holding onto the unity of our country. The condition of freedom is a unified social bloc. The condition of freedom lies in all the tools that lead to planning and organization. My greetings and salutations to all of you.
….
My salute to the martyrs. My salute to Dahieh [Beirut’s southern suburb], to the heroes of Lebanon. My salute to the resistance, to the resistance. My salute to Al Mayadeen and Al Mayadeen’s family. My salute to everyone. My salute to the martyred leader [Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah]. My salute to the people of the resistance. Resistance is freedom! It is freedom in itself. Let’s all rally around resistance, around Gaza, around the supporters of resistance. You are the symbol of honor and dignity. And so is Dahieh and its people. My gratitude to the resistance. My gratitude to the martyrs of Dahieh. My gratitude to every person that held the banner of freedom. My gratitude to you all, all of you fighters.
Photo retrieved from Samidoun.
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