It was a night of a Palestinian solar eclipse in which six moons set in the sky of the homeland, but since when are moons absent forever? As soon as the moons set, they rise again, brighter and lighter.

The Lions’ Den in Nablus was not a passing case in the history of the Palestinian national struggle that has continued for a hundred years. Rather, it is a case of redemption, the details of which present love for the homeland and touch the passion in the hearts of our people. The rebellious Palestinian youth, which discarded partisanship in Nablus and set out to fight the enemy united, formulated a new equation that destroyed the security theories of the enemy formulated by the minds of strategic security experts. These theories relied mainly on spreading discrimination among the components of the Palestinian people. This den that was established in Jabal Al-Nar was an inspiring case that taught Palestinian politicians a lesson in resistance, and before that a lesson in national unity that politicians have failed to achieve over the past 15 years.

The Lions’ Den created unity with the blood that mixed with the soil of the homeland and could not be separated by the repulsive factional tendencies that exhausted the Palestinian people and tore its social fabric. The Lions’ Den were only young men in their twenties, but they possessed the courage of youth and the wisdom of the older men. They were bonded by the strongest level of unity that the older politicians, who claimed to be wise and clever, failed at reaching. They failed time after time to achieve national unity until the tragedy of reconciliation agreements manifested in its ugliest form in the minds of the Palestinians.

The youth of Nablus made the homeland a den and made themselves lions, and lions are only good at attacking. They do not evade, bargain, retreat, or accept defeat. They lick their bleeding wounds then stand tall and proud to stalk the enemy and pursue it once again. They are not divided by the plots of foxes. That is why the Lions’ Den has become the mecca of the revolutionaries, where hateful factionalism has dissolved, and it gained the approval, appreciation, respect, and love of the Palestinian people. This creative youthful experiment is worthy of being followed by politicians, who have been divided and their feet almost slipped after being steady, so it is imperative for them to follow the path of the Lions’ Den.

The country is in dire need of a political Lions’ Den where there is no partisanship or factionalism, and the affairs of the country are prioritized. I am calling from now for the political and media elites, as well as the intellectuals, activists, and anyone who loves Palestine to gather under one banner and one vision, away from the complexities of partisan and factional life, to form together an Arab political den that is similar to the military den. I think that this idea will be welcomed by all of our people, in their different groups and beliefs. It will restore the popular national fabric and unity that has been absent since the first popular uprising, which was a popular movement, and expressed the Palestinian national cohesion in its finest form.

Let me say this loud and proud, the Palestinian youth have surpassed the elders. The modern Palestinian revolution began with a generation of youth who led national work when the politicians who lived through the Nakba failed to lead the Palestinian people to restore their freedom and independence. Instead, they were divided by factionalism and partisanship. This division played a strengthening role for the colonial conspiracy woven by the major forces, and they still hold on to its threads. The youth took the lead in the First Intifada after the enemy thought it had eliminated the Palestinian revolution by expelling it from Lebanon. The youth had the best lead again in the Second Intifada when they thought the enemy mistakenly thought it robbed the Palestinian people their will to fight after the Oslo Accords disaster. The Palestinian youth are now back once against to taking the lead by forming the Lions’ Den in Jabal Al-Nar and they say that the politicians’ division is a recipe for allowing liquidation projects for the Palestinian cause and that is why the country’s den is a major national interest that protects the Palestinian dream from dying. It protects the hope that the generations have had for many years as they held onto their keys of return. The least that can be done for them is that the politicians follow the footsteps of the revolutionaries on the path of unity out of respect for the blood that has been shed and the souls that passed while united.

The nation today is united behind the martyrs of the Lions’ Den, so do not divide once again. May the sun of unity shine to dissipate the clouds of division that cloaked the nation’s sky.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Felesteen on 26 October 2022