Notes from A Vietnam-Palestine Solidarity Teach-In

In April '24, ESEA Sisters hosted a teach-in exploring anti-imperialism resistance during the Vietnam War and how this can be applied to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. These are my notes.

Palestine X Vietnam 

First country to make ties with Palestine in 70s

Controlling the narrative of when the war begins is political 

Naming the war is political - which war, there are many different ones

World imperialism (proxy) vs peoples liberation 

ESEA community has more social capital and more numbers so important to stand up for Palestine

Understanding history as alive today

Asian countries were united as part of the same fight and sharing the same enemy 

Zionist project used to subjugate the entire region 

Leila Khaled: my people shall live 1973 

The unbound humanity of the Vietnamese: Seeing themselves as part of a communal and worldly struggle 

Imperialism as the body; how internationalism can combine and fight against a united struggle 

The global system: zionism was created to subjugate the entire SWANA region 

Inspiration drawn from Vietnam; a people’s war. The only war to defeat imperialist US

In the conscience of the people of the world the torch has been passed from them to us 

Popular mass consciousness = mass solidarity 

Thinking about the local context and how to elevate that across the region 

Fronts against american imperialism in asia, africa and latin americas could mean the end for the US

About organising the people 

A method and tactic of the peoples war 

The peoples army is the core of the population, its axis

Catholic church was the largest landowner in vietnam

60s - church antagonised buddhism 

Peaceful protests drafting a manifesto for the dead - peaceful protest against anti buddhist sentiments 

Convoys of buddhist priests unfurled banners and 48 hr hunger strike - first nationwide protest 

Ultimate control over the body - self immolation 

Deepest compassion - suicide is an act of self destruction, monk who burns himself believes in self sacrifice for the sake of others

Enemies are hatred from within inside oneself

The heart that did not burn - symbol of compassion as an international symbol

Scientific view of history with a marxist lens

Kanafeni

Connection between bodily harm and self sacrifice 

National identity is constructed around the martyr and prisoner 

Israeli prison is similar to death - dehumanisation 

Embodied resistance - hunger strike and conception of life through smuggled sperm 

Using the body as a front - will is unbent to the captors, freedom through bodily mind and escaping the captors in this way 

What it takes to achieve liberation - 

Eliminating resistance starts a new front 

Relationship between resistance and the collective is cyclical because that presence is always there 

Strategic hamlets - relocate mass communities into prisons and camps to separate them from the guerillas and the revolution

Intended to stop people from considering the resistance; offering the body becomes a compass for our struggle

The body as a front for the struggle 

Neglected tactic in the west seen through the prisoner struggle 

The importance of the narrative around self sacrifice 

Powerful acts done with revolutionary intentionality

Martyrdom becomes important to the cause 

Martyrdom has become central to Palestinian identity 

Traditions accumulated through generations come to mean something huge 

Public grief and public mourning fuel revolutionary action 

Martyrdom sears the consciousness of the masses 

The purpose of zionist prisons - breathing life into the infrastructure of the revolution, mobilisation 

Come into contact with revolutionary outrage which allows people to get organised 

Transcends sectarian divides 

Self sacrifice by bearing witness to the dignity/ lack of dignity of the masses 

If we are serious about advancing liberation, what are we willing to sacrifice 

The tradition of last will and testament; respecting the martyrs and what they sacrificed 

The capacity for making war grew with the capacity for imperialism as seen through the destruction of Vietnam and Gaza 

State building and its myths - the forces of imperialism made its way to Palestine because it failed to do so in Vietnam

Imperialism evolved into neoliberalism and made its way into Palestine through this 

The stronger we are in ourselves around local issues and battling imperialist sources in ldn - the better we can stand up to these forces 

Student pro-Palestine movement grew out of the anti iraq war movement in the UK

Look at the ways we talk about modern crises; this is on the spectrum of what imperialism does in the world - housing, cost of living and so on 

The stronger we are in counting struggles in the cities, the forces are there to arm ourselves against arms embargoes in Israel 

Student movement has been intensely repressed in the uk because of what happened in 2009 

Resistance is a cumulative game - we need to build capacity to build

Experience in order to action aims 

Immense moment of mobilisation for Palestine - turn that mobilisation into organisation to push the political ceiling 

Cutting ties with zionism and making it as costly as possible to cut ties with zionism - make it costly for the govt 

Cant co-opt a movement like Palestine or social movements like that, that’s why the govt and systems in power fear it 

Popular struggle 

Become activated within our communities 

Palestine movement is embedded in the left and anti racist movements in the 70s and 80s 

How can internationalism and global solidarity be defined in the modern age