TEHRAN- A role model for young Palestinians, Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, whose martyrdom voiced the ‘defense from the homeland’ mindset worldwide.

Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, 19, was a Palestinian resistance fighter and senior Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commander. He served as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commander in the West Bank, earning the nickname "The Lion of Nablus." He survived several Israeli assassination attempts and made high-profile appearances at the funerals of fellow Fatah resistance fighters. On August 9, 2022, he and Islam Sabbouh along with Hussein Jamal Taha were martyred in an Israeli raid on their barricaded home in Nablus.

The Palestinian health ministry then told Al Jazeera that more than 60 others were wounded, four of whom were in critical condition.

Al Jazeera’s John Holman said al-Nabulsi had “refused to surrender and was defended by other armed Palestinians” before he was killed.

“This isn’t the first time that Israeli forces have tried to get al-Nabulsi,” Holman said. “They tried several times, including in July, in a massive operation again in which two other men died.”

“Take care of the homeland,” he said. “I am surrounded now, but I will fight until I become a martyr. I love my mother.”

According to Al Jazeera, “Don’t abandon the gun” was the message recorded by al-Nabulsi a few hours before his martyrdom.

The message was considered the lion of the Nablus’s ‘will’ that was shared by the worried Palestinians waiting for their hero to survive. 
 

Why is resistance important for Palestinians?

In April 2018, Ramzy Baroud, an internationally-syndicated columnist, media consultant, and author, told Aljazeera that the ongoing popular mobilization on the Gaza border is a reminder of previous historical events where the Palestinian people rose in unison to challenge oppression and demand freedom. 

He added that Palestinian popular resistance is neither a new phenomenon nor an alien one. 

General mass strike and civil disobedience, challenging British imperialism and Zionist settlements in Palestine, started nearly a century ago, culminating in the six-month-long general strike of 1936, Baroud stated.

Since then, popular resistance has been a staple in Palestinian history, and it was a prominent feature of the First Intifada, the popular uprising of 1987.

Palestinians need no lectures on how to resist the Israeli occupation, combat racism and defeat apartheid. They, and only they, can develop the proper strategy and the tools that will eventually lead them to freedom.

The debate about the legitimacy or legality of resistance is frequently associated with discussions of racist regimes, colonialism, and occupation. 

Resistance becomes necessary for people living under cruel domination when it becomes evident to them that there is no government or law to protect them from oppression, Rinad Abdulla told openDemocracy on December 18, 2014. 

Abdulla added that Palestinian resistance takes many forms: organized weekly protests in villages; armed struggle; youth confronting raiding Israeli armored jeeps in their villages and refugee camps; and the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment campaign. She also said all forms of resistance should complement each other and not be considered mutually exclusive regarding legitimacy. 

Upon bombs falling on the Gaza Strip and the disastrous condition of the Palestinians, whose condition has been under the shadow of Western media negligence, Lynda Brayer shared with Critical Legal Thinking on November 19, 2012, that once again the bombs are falling on the Gaza Strip, a stretch of territory excised from Palestine proper as a result of continuing illegal and illegitimate actions by Israel. Gaza has become a closed ghetto, first cut off from Palestine in violation of the partition plans and political programs and then turned into a sealed ghetto following democratic elections which brought the Islamic Resistance Party — Hamas — into power. Categorized as a terrorist organization by the United States, with some of its leading supporters there imprisoned for over twenty years for sending humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, it can come as no surprise that the Israeli and Western media accuse Hamas of attacking Israel with rockets, rather than reporting that Hamas sent off the rockets as a response to an Israeli attack!

On May 5, 2023, in a commentary titled “Resistance is a continuous endeavor” on Africa Is a Country website, Tara Alami stated that Palestinians have organized for more than 75 years for a liberated future.

Today, as resistance against Israeli apartheid intensifies, unity and revolutionary optimism have become the central infrastructure of struggle.

Palestinians have mourned at least 150 martyrs since the beginning of 2023. Currently, 4,900 Palestinians are detained in the Zionist regime’s jails, including 160 children. But for Palestinians on the ground and those of us in exile, the revolutionary optimism remains, underlying a long, arduous, steadfast struggle for liberation.

Since the Unity Intifada of 2021, we have witnessed a clear, systematic rise in popular armed resistance in Palestine. With it comes a necessary reckoning with the current phase of the Palestinian struggle for liberation from settler-colonialism. Unity among Palestinians has characterized the Unity Intifada, as the name suggests. Palestinians are unified against the Zionist regime’s project despite the deliberate, systematic fragmentation imposed upon them.
 

Ibraim Nabulsi, a figure in resistance 

Hebh Jamal, on August 15, 2022, wrote a report on Mondoweiss shedding light on the martyrdom of Nabulshi, saying that Ibrahim’s last words before his martyrdom were impactful.

“Despite thousands of Palestinians murdered by Israel, this one (Ibrahim) was different. We seldom hear the last words of our martyrs. We are only used to seeing their dismembered bodies and pale faces with only our imaginations to guide us into their thoughts,” Jamal said.

As per Jamal, “Palestinians like Nabulsi, however, are not mourned by mainstream liberal organizations or human rights groups. Although only 18, Nabulsi does not get an obituary, a commemoration by mainstream activists, or a public vigil. For the West, Palestinians like Nabulsi do not fit into the dehumanizing role of the innocent Palestinian victim. He is a “militant,” a “commander,” a “terrorist,” — never a freedom fighter.”

On August 15, 2022, Mariam Barghouti wrote a commentary on Ibrahim’s martyrdom for Mondoweiss, casting light on the reactions toward his martyrdom.  

Mariam said that Huda, or Um Eyad, mother of the 18-year-old resistance fighter sits next to her only daughter, and Ibrahim’s only sister, Shahd al-Nabulsi, 23.

Shahd’s navy dress contrasts with her clean purple headscarf. A stain rests underneath her palms on the left side of her gown. Slightly darker than the rest of her dress, it felt out of place.

Um Eyad catches my gaze. “That’s Ibrahim’s blood, the stain,” she said. Just the day before, August 9, Um Eyad lost her third-born child, Ibrahim, who didn’t make it to his 19th birthday in October. 

Man of the Year

Choosing is always difficult, especially when selecting the face of the year. In the Persian calendar year of 1401 (March 2022-March 2023), there were many candidates for this title, but for various reasons, Tehran Times chose Ibrahim Nabulsi, a young Palestinian martyr. 

The most important reason for this selection goes back to the importance of the Palestinian issue. Although more than 70 years have passed since this deep and painful wound emerged, it is still fresh for Muslims and every free-minded human being. Only from the beginning of this year until now, about 90 Palestinians have been killed by the occupation army, a significant number of women and children.

Although Ibrahim was young, he significantly impacted current developments in Palestine. With his intelligence and creativity in fighting Israeli occupiers, he became an inspiring figure in occupied territories, especially in the West Bank.