On the occasion of your 74rh birthday, April 2nd, I am writing to wish you a happy birthday. I sincerely hope that you will be granted an unconditional release before your 75th birthday…
Ever since I saw the film Fedayin, the Struggle of Georges Abdallah a few years ago, I have been campaigning in Montreal, Quebec, for your unconditional release. Moreover, at Palestinian and Jewish Unity (paju.org), an organization of which I am a member, we are outraged by your incarceration. Moreover, we are outraged by its duration: four decades of imprisonment! We have organized (and will continue to organize) public activities to raise awareness among our fellow citizens about the injustice you are facing.
Unless I am mistaken, France would release you if you signed a document acknowledging, in essence, that you are a terrorist. However, you refuse to sign this document, and the reason for your refusal, the reason you give, is that you are not a terrorist. Well, you are absolutely right! You are not a terrorist! You are, as you so rightly say, a freedom fighter, an Arab fighter! So you are absolutely right to refuse to sign this ignominious document.
In my view, your refusal to sign this document vindicates those who call you the ‘Arab Nelson Mandela’. Let us recall that Mandela was imprisoned by the South African apartheid regime for 27 years. Let us also recall that the South African government, faced with calls for Mandela’s release, said it would release the Prisoner Mandela, but on the condition that he renounce violence. Mandela stood firm and refused to renounce armed struggle… In the same way, you stand firm and refuse to discredit the fight for Arab dignity. As a matter of principle, you refuse to trade your political convictions for your individual liberation. You are a man of principle, a true model of integrity.
You used to be a schoolteacher in Lebanon. But in a way, you never stopped teaching… As a schoolteacher, your teaching reached a few dozen schoolboys and girls, maybe a few hundred. Today, your teaching of soumoud, of persistence, of holding firm, inspires not only Lebanese youth, but also Arab youth, and even international youth! In fact, your soumoud inspires several generations of activists, Arab and non-Arab, who despite the many recent and depressing setbacks (genocide in Gaza, pogroms in the West Bank, the decapitation of Hezbollah, vacillations in Syria), stand firm, precisely in the fight against imperialism, colonialism, and Zionism. This is certainly my case: when I experience a difficulty, I think of your moral strength, and it helps me overcome the obstacles I face.
Rachel Corrie (https://rachelcorriefoundation.org/) is another great inspiration for me. This American woman was deliberately crushed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 while trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home in Rafah, Gaza. My daughter’s name (born in 1998) is Sabrina, and it fits her very well. But if I had to do it all over again, I would name my daughter Rachel, in homage to Rachel Corrie…
As for my son (born in 2001), his first name is Joseph, and it also fits him very well. But if I had to do it all over again, I would name my son Georges Ibrahim, to pay tribute to you…
Happy 74rh birthday. Please accept, Sir, the expression of my infinite respect and inexhaustible gratitude.
