khapery

My will to you begins here, from that child who threw the first stone at the occupier, and who learned that stones are the first words we utter in the face of the world that stands silently in front of our wound. I learned in the streets of Gaza that a person is not measured by the years of his life, but by what he gives to his country. And that was my life: prisons and battles, pain and hope. I entered prison for the first time in 1988, and I was sentenced to life imprisonment, but I did not know the way to fear. In those dark cells, I saw in every wall a window to the distant horizon, and in every bar a light illuminating the path to freedom. In prison, I learned that patience is not just a virtue, but a weapon.. a bitter weapon, like someone who drinks the sea drop by drop. My advice to you: Do not fear prisons, for they are only part of our long path to freedom. Prison taught me that freedom is not just a stolen right, but an idea born from pain and refined by patience. When I was released in the “Wafa al-Ahrar” deal in 2011, I did not leave as I was; I left stronger and my faith increased that what we are doing is not just a passing struggle, but rather our destiny that we carry until the last drop of our blood.