There is something so powerful, in the cinematic landscape, when the hero dies defending what he believes in. Examples like Saving Private Ryan, Armageddon, Katsumoto in The Last Samurai, Borormir in The Fellowship of the Ring, and of course Braveheart, when William Wallace, leader of the rebellion is about to be executed, but given a final opportunity to submit, the crowds begins to chant “mercy” willing him to pick life, but he understands that a life in chains, under occupation, is not a life worth living, but liberation is a cause worth dying for, so he screams “freedom”. Its ironic how we cheer on heroes on the silver screen, recognising those in ivory towers, or heading up media conglomerates, or investing in the arms trade as the villains, yet somehow we flip the script in reality.

What literature and films seem to capture so wholly in the collective imagination of all people is a simple concept: that freedom is worth dying for. What they have also managed to do, it seems, is create an idea of what that hero should look like. Rather than understand the principle, it is the image of a white saviour that resonates. An easy example for us today is Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In 2022 he was praised by many in the west for donning his military fatigues and fighting on the frontline. However, it didn’t take much digging on the internet to see that the images were actually from 2021, before the Russian invasion. The comedian/actor turned politician, often shows up in his khaki jumper rather than the traditional suit of politicians, and this seems to be enough to fool the people of the global north. These days Ukraine can be found abstaining from voting in the UN to end the occupation of Palestine whilst simultaneously pleading for money from America to end the occupation of Ukraine from Russia! Volodymyr Zelensky, alongside his chief aide, and the head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov, were named in the Panama Papers for operating a network of offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, and Belize. Zelensky built his 2019 presidential campaign around cleaning up the government.

When Israel decided to release the images of Yahya Sinwar, in his final moments, I doubt they realised the own goal they were about to score. To them it was another dead Palestinian, one that they have had on their kill list for over a year. Yahya was sat calmly in an armchair, covered in dust and wearing his keffiyeh. His right arm was clearly broken, and as the drone that filmed him got closer, he threw a projectile at it, with his left arm. Hollywood could not have written a more epic or heroic ending. He didn’t flinch or cower, he looked his enemy straight in the eyes, head held high. According to Israeli sources, a training force was conducting searches of the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood in Rafah, when they spotted a small number of fighters moving between buildings. The occupation forces used drones to pinpoint the location of the resistance fighters, and after an exchange, killed three of them. One of the fighters moved into the building. The occupation’s cowards sent a drone into the building, afraid of the resistance, and found the lone figure sitting on his armchair. The building was then shelled by tanks and missiles, simultaneously killing Sinwar and giving birth to a legend.

Israel has spent millions, along with its allies, trying to justify their bombings of schools, hospitals, refugee camps, markets and residential buildings by claiming that the resistance hides behind civilians and under residential infrastructure. They even justified their killing of women and children by claiming Yahya dresses as a woman whilst hiding amongst Gaza’s populace. It turns out they were lying, again. He was above ground, on the battlefield of Gaza, fighting the occupation forces, alongside his soldiers. He was killed fighting his enemies head on. Israeli “intelligence” wasn’t able to locate him, this was a chance encounter. Yet another fail for the Israeli warmongers.

Yahya Sinwar, also known as Abu Ibrahim, was born in a refugee camp in Khan Younis in 1962 . His family was displaced by Zionist gangs during the 1948 Nakba. He was first arrested in 1982, aged 20, and again in 1985 during which period he met Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. In 1988 he was arrested a third time and given four life sentences, which resulted in him spending 22 years in prison. It was during this period he learnt to speak fluent Hebrew. In 2011 he was released as part of a prisoner swap for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit alongside more than 1,000 other Palestinians. In 2017 he became the leader of Hamas. He lived his life resisting the illegal occupation and died fighting for the freedom of Palestine. Yahya Sinwar was also an artist, an author. He wrote a novel “The Thorn and the Carnation” during his 20 years in prison, chronicling the Palestinian resistance from the aftermath of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. He was not mentioned in the Panama Papers.

Many of the people we celebrate today were never praised during their lifetime. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years and only taken off the USA terror watchlist in 2008, five years before he died. Steve Biko was also considered a terrorist as he resisted South African Apartheid. Britain, a staunch supporter of the Apartheid regime, opposed sanctions against South Africa from 1960 until the fall of Apartheid in 1994. Resistance is never popular, nor is reporting the truth, especially when it goes against Capitalist and colonial interests. Just take the recent report by Declassified UK and the role the UK government played in trying to discredit the late John Pilger as he reported on Britain’s role in expelling the native population of the Chagos Islands to make way for a US military base, in his documentary Stealing a Nation . In  Death of a Nation he exposed how the genocide in East Timor “happened with the connivance of Britain, the US, and Australia”. Supporting genocide and ethnic cleansing and attempting to hide the truth is straight from the colonisers playbook.

Churchill butchered a million brown bodies and he is celebrated as if he was actually on the front lines. It is easy to give commands whilst hiding in a bunker, when it is not your life on the line. Which begs the question, if our politicians believe so earnestly in the principles of freedom, liberation and justice, why are they not putting themselves on the frontline. Not only is  Benjamin Netanyahu not fighting for Israel himself, his son spent the first month after October 7th in America, only returning after criticism from Israeli’s. When he did finally return, he wasn’t on the frontline, in fact his security costs around 200,000 Israeli Shekels a month and which the PM is currently looking to increase! I know detractors will suggest that its unrealistic to expect heads of states (and even armies these days) to fight in wars, but when we see so much death and destruction around us, whether by war or poverty, surly we should ask more of the people making the legislations and decisions. Empathy isn’t “I feel sorry for you” that’s sympathy, empathy is the ability to share and understand the feelings of others. Most of us don’t need the sympathy of millionaires, pretending they understand our struggles. Truthfully we don’t even need their empathy, but the lack of the latter shines a light into their lack of humanity, which should alarm us, as ours will be the bodies that pay the ultimate price, willingly or unwillingly.

Sir Kid Starver took to his podium to admonish the UK population on who we can and can not mourn, on the 18th of October. (It is worth reading the responses to that Tweet, just to gauge public opinion). The tragic reality, that western politicians refuse to understand or accept, is that you can’t kill a resistance movement, by killing its leader. Palestinians, alongside all indigenous groups resisting the occupation of their land, will always chose a life of dignity and honour. When that is denied to them, they are willing to fight for it. The western world is so capricious, so entitled, that the thought of struggle is foreign to many. That is why the last year has been such an exposé on liberal hypocrisy. Many of us have realised that the values of freedom and justice, of free speech and equality, were never meant to be applied to all people. We have seen the lengths our governments are willing to go to, not only to silence us, but to keep the war machine chugging along. Conservatives or Labour, Democrats or Republicans, our governments interests no longer lies in serving the people, but in serving the interests of big money players.

As with all good plot twist, a few days after the death of Yahya Sinwar, Netanyahu’s stolen home was targeted by a drone attack, launched from Lebanon. It is alleged that he wasn’t in the stolen residence, but images of him running into a bunker, under civilian infrastructure, after Iran’s recent attack, have resurfaced to highlight the constant lies from Israel and its supporters. As has been highlighted from October 2023: every accusation Israel makes is a confession of their own sordid truth.

Finally, as a Muslim, it’s important to me to clarify the concept of Martyrdom. In Arabic we call martyrs “Shaheed” which literally translates to “witness”. There are a few verses in the Qur’an referring to them such as this one from Surah Al-Imran (The chapter of The Family of Imran): “And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision. Rejoicing in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty, and they receive good tidings about those [to be martyred] after them who have not yet joined them – that there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve” {3:169-170}. Someone who dies defending their home, their land, their people and their religion is considered a Martyr, but the concept is far greater than that. There are other categories of Martyrs, including: Someone who dies of plague (think Covid), someone who drowns, someone who dies of pleurisy, someone who dies of a stomach disease, someone who dies by fire, someone who dies under a falling building or structure and a woman who dies in childbirth or whilst nursing her baby. For a greater understanding of this complex, but beautiful concept, watch this video by Omar Suleiman.

Islam has been the boogieman for the past few decades, and concepts within the religion have been hijacked to suit a political narrative. For so many years Muslims have been scared to speak up, to explain and defend their religion in case they are labelled as extremists. Our religious practices, our bodies, our language has been policed, creating anxiety and fear amongst us and mistrust and fear amongst those outside of the faith. Fear has always been the goal, because scared people will follow their leaders more faithfully. Lets stop being afraid, and start asking questions, and then we can decide for ourselves who are the villains and who are the heroes.