Video: Palestinian resistance in Gaza is “fighting for all of us,” says Dr. Mads Gilbert

Ali Abunimah Rights and Accountability 8 August 2014

“The heart of the Earth beats in Gaza now. It bleeds, but it beats,” says Dr. Mads Gilbert.

The Norwegian emergency surgeon returned to his home city of Tromsø on 31 July after spending several weeks treating the wounded from Israel’s assault at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.

He went straight from the airport to give a spontaneous speech at a large solidarity demonstration for Gaza held at the same time.

Tromsø is twinned with Gaza City.

The newspaper Nordlys made this video, above, of his speech. It is subtitled in English.

“The Palestinian people’s resistance in Gaza today is admirable, it is fair and it is a struggle for all of us. We do not want a world where raw power can be abused, to kill those who struggle for justice,” he states.

Gilbert asks why after all the massacres, all of Israel’s violations of the laws protecting civilians, there are no sanctions on Israel.

He demands to know why the government of Norway is so “quiet” as Palestinians face “one of the most brutal occupation forces of modern history.”

“Solidarity is a powerful weapon,” Gilbert says, ending his address with a call for everyone to get involved in the movement for Palestinian rights.

“Israel is more isolated than ever and they deserve to be,” Gilbert says, endorsing the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

It is a powerful 25-minute speech.

We have transcribed the first few minutes, in which Gilbert asks his fellow Norwegians to imagine what their country would be like today if they had not struggled for its liberation from German occupation:

I know you applaud for Gaza. I know you applaud for those who are there, the heroes of Gaza.

This will be no easy appeal to make, because I am now overcome by the mildness, the warmth, the safety, the absence of bombs, jets, blood and death. And then all that we’ve had to keep inside comes to the surface – so forgive me if sometimes I break.

I thought when I got home and met my daughters Siri and Torbjørn, my son-in-law and my grandkids Jenny and Torje, that it is such a mild country we live in.

It so good, with a kind of humanity in all relationships, because we actually built this country on respect for diversity, respect for the individual, respect for human dignity.

And imagine being back in 1945. And I beg to be understood when I say that I am not comparing the German Nazi regime with Israel. I do not.

But I compare occupation with occupation. Imagine that we in 1945 did not win the liberation struggle, did not throw out the occupier, could not see a bright future or believe our kids had a future. Imagine the occupier remaining in our country, taking it piece by piece, for decades upon decades. And banished us to the leanest areas. Took the fish in the sea, took the land, took the water, and we became more and more confined.

And here in Tromsø we were actually imprisoned, because here there was so much resistance to the occupation. So we are imprisoned for seven years, because in an election we had chosen the most resilient, those who would not accept the occupation.

Then after seven years of confinement in our city, Tromsø, the occupier began to bomb us. And they began to bomb us the day we made a political alliance with those in the other confined parts of occupied Norway, to say that we Norwegians would stand together against the occupier. Then they began to bomb us.

They bombed our university hospital, then the medical center, then killed our ambulance workers, they bombed schools where those who had lost their homes were trying to seek shelter. Then they cut the power and bombed our power plant. Then they shut off the water supply. What would we have done?

Would we have given up, waved the white flag? No. No, we would not. And this is the situation in Gaza.

This is not a battle between terrorism and democracy. Hamas is not the enemy Israel is fighting. Israel is waging a war against the Palestinian people’s will to resist. The unbending determination not to submit to the occupation!

It is the Palestinian people’s dignity and humanity that will not accept that they are treated as third, fourth, fifth-ranking people.

In 1938, the Nazis called the Jews “Untermenschen,” subhuman. Today, Palestinians in the West Bank, in Gaza, in the Diaspora are treated as Untermensch, as subhumans who can be bombed, killed, slaughtered by their thousands, without any of those in power reacting.

So I returned home to my free country – and this country is free because we had a resistance movement, because we said that occupied nations have the right to resist, even with weapons. It’s stated in international law.

You are permitted to fight the occupier even with weapons. One should of course respect international law …

Nobody wants to be occupied!

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Comments

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Avais replied on

Thank you Dr.Mads Gilbert you are such a Human...you said what you witnessed with your own eyes..many people made their opinion over Gaza situation without even knowing what's actually happening in Gaza..I agree with you completely

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Daria Dolley replied on

For the life of me I cannot comprehend why most of the world does not condemn the brutality of the Israeli army...so many Israeli soldiers tell of the unspeakable acts they have had to commit against Palestinians...people worldwide have protested against the Israeli army...and yet governments...more notably the USA, who provides ammunition to the army..to perpetuate their atrocities...remain silent...what hold does Israel have over them? or are these governments just devoid of conscience? What would Mandela and Ghandi have done? I am ashamed...ashamed to part of mankind...GOD bless Palestine...

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Amir Flesher replied on

I have watched a good many testimonials of Israeli soldiers detailing their activities as part of the occupation forces since the beginning of the second Intifada. What strikes me about these testimonials is that most of them are not about unspeakable acts of violence and barbarism--no most of that work has been carried out through the harsh impersonal technology of airstrikes, unmanned drones, and to a lesser extent mortars. There just is very little evidence that Israeli soldiers, as a matter of course, go around killing people, sniping people, savagely beating them/ rape etc-- face-to-face. Surely, each of these has occurred, but not as a matter of day to day policy. Rather, most of what goes on in the West Bank has more to do with the daily grind and futility of occupation that is being enforced by a cadre of armed 19 year old boys. What do these kids do? The vast majority of the testimonials are about operations in which they are searching suspects of some kind, or degrading treatment at roadblocks. A lot of what they do here is arrest and harass people who are not involved--take over people's houses as their base of operations, ransack houses, and hit suspects (though generally not beat them) for no reason. My point is, this stuff is all bad, but it mostly not unspeakable. In fact, the there are hundreds of soldiers who have spoken about it! This is a typical example of the search operation stuff: http://www.breakingthesilence....
This reality is important to recognize because the grand sum total of this kind of stuff is really the core o the problem. It's the continuation of this status quo that makes daily life very hard-- and often traumatic--but it is not out and out common butchery. If you want to fix the problem, it needs to be correctly diagnosed. Or if I am wrong, to refute in a reasoned, well documented, and clear fashion.

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Oum A replied on

According to Eran Efrati, a former IDF soldier and former member of breaking the silence (he was the chief investigator), the IDF censors breaking the silence too, they decide what gets published and what does not.
http://www.popularresistance.o...

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Mohammed abdi replied on

Thank u Docto Mad Gilbert, you an inspiration, and by the grace of God and the power that be Gaza will prevail and forever be remembered

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claudia del sur replied on

Tremendo ser HUMANO es usted Dr.Gilbert. Me emociona ver la pasion y el compromiso en vuestras palabras.Como madre sudamericana se y comprendo a mis hermanos Palestinos, y el hecho de que un hombre se presente ante su nacion, sin mas interes que contarles la verdad de lo que viò me parece excelente...
Pues cierto es , somos todos hijos de esta tierra, y como dice usted, debemos estar unidos y hacer algo, ocuparnos en que no olvidemos lo que nuestros hermanos estan pasando en Gaza.
Usted si es un digno ganador del PREMIO DE LA PAZ, ojala sea asi...pues se merece eso y mas.

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Damaris Berrios replied on

Claudia pienso igual Dr. Gilbert en verda se merece un premio.

Damaris Berrios Taha

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LesF replied on

I often put forward an argument similar to Dr Gilbert's, relating to my country, the UK. If some tribe said "We need somewhere to live, we'll take a bit of your country, and if you resist we'll kill you", we certainly would resist with all our strength. That is the situation in Palestine today. Israel has been stealing land from Palestine for decades in defiance of numerous UN resolutions, and has only been able to get away with it because the US is stupid enough to allow itself to be manipulated. The US bleats "Israel is our only ally in the Middle East" but they only have enemies there because of their slavish support of a tyrannical regime. Now we can see the truth through the fog of Israeli propaganda, it's time to put pressure on Israel to return to its pre-1967 borders set by the UN, to release Gaza from imprisonment and to compensate Palestine for all the atrocities. Many Israelis don't agree with their country's behaviour, and some Jewish groups don't support the Zionist colonialists. The only peaceful way to bring about a change of regime in Israel is a boycott similar to the one that forced South Africa to face reality.

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tom hall replied on

A letter from Gaza written by Doctor Gilbert to friends during the Israeli massacre was posted at a public website- it may have been this one, I don't recall. I copied the link on a newspaper comment thread, and a reply came that the heartfelt plea from Dr Gilbert appeared to be a fake churned out by a propaganda agency. This is the world we live in, choking on so many lies that the truth strikes many as wildly improbable. But Mads Gilbert is real- it's our expectations which have grown delusional. We expect tomorrow to be the same as today, when things move on for myriad reasons. Tomorrow will not be a day of occupation and bombardment, but of freedom and dignity. None of us knows where that tomorrow will appear on the calendar, but appear it will. Let us renew our efforts on behalf of the Palestinian people, and redouble the BDS movement, to dry up the sources of funding and legitimacy sustaining the Israeli juggernaut.

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alan horton replied on

welcome home dr gilbert, my thanks to you for your mission to gaza and the help you have given to the needy and betrayed of that olace. i am an english man and ashamed of the land that bore me ,evermore so in the last month of barbarity, to which my political leaders sanction and condone by their silence.
my nation is the mother&father to this crime of a state, without its support the evil would never have been sanctioned in the first place.
we must fight on for justice & resolution , the road is long and treachery at every turn, will we ever understand why?

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Anonyme replied on

Thank you Dr.GIlbert. Really admire soemone like you

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Charlton Price replied on

Medical supplies available from ANERA. Mention my name to them as a donor to them. Through their US office I am asking that they seek you out in Gaza, where they are able to get in more easily than most other NGOs.

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Molly replied on

"The heart of the Earth beats in Gaza now. And bleeds, but it beats," says Dr. Mads Gilbert. Israel would like to see them Gaza sventolasse the white flag, so they can make the people of Gaza, refugees in their own land, in their home, and then Israel is justified that they were to surrender. But the people of Gaza, has a large dignitáe hope to change the situation, this is not israel parties can ever take away the people of Gaza. As DR says Mads Gilbert, the solidarity and a very strong weapon. We must continue to support the people of Gaza, to stop the genocide. Thanks DR Mads Gilbert.

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Jeff Ellis replied on

I have been impressed by Dr Gilbert and his work in Gaza. In my view he should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is important that someone calls it as it is. The spin-doctors have had their own way for far too long. He compared the treatment of the Palestinians with the Nazi attitude of "Untermensch". The continued building of settlements is nothing less than the 21st century version of "Lebensraum".

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Dima replied on

I just want to send you a big Thankyou on behalf of all Gazans and Palestinians. If only there were many more people like you to stand up for humanity ... The world would have been a much better place. God bless you and may you always have the health, energy and patience to be the loving warm hearted human being that you are.

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The truth replied on

Thank you for speaking the truth Dr. Gilbert. You just told the world the other side of the story they never hear due to the world's biased media. There is always two sides to every story. I hate to say this but I believe it is true that; " For the last 68 years, the Palestinians have been going through what the Jews went through during the Nazis regime. It looks like that Israel is getting its revenge on the Palestinians." Everyone has the right to resist genocide and ethnic cleansing and apartheid.

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Anonymous replied on

Great respect for Dr.Mads Gilbert,
According to me it is best to give the position of Bankimon to Dr.Mads Gilbert.

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Yvonne austin replied on

thank you Dr. Gilbert..for your compassionate leadership , and to share with the world the truth... I stand in solidarity for the people of palestines human rights!

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saovakon chalermkwun replied on

ALLAH BLESS, PROTECT, HELP, SAVE, STAY AND REWARDS ALL OF YOU. ......FOREVER. .......A MEEN......cheers! .....I love you. .....I pray and dua for u ! Ameen. ...♡♡♡...u r the best man♡♡♡.

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Kathleen Holmes replied on

Thank you for the doctor's speech. He makes it so clear why the Palestinian struggle is important to all of us. Solidarity takes an effort. We cannot afford to be lazy

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a sad reader replied on

It feels my heart with unspeakable sadness and a sense of helplessness when I see so many civilians are killed, when I see USA president and politicians are still backing this senseless killing, when I thought of the so called fight for human rights by the United States, as the killing of innocent Gaza people weren't the biggest violation of human rights. The double standard is so obviously practiced by the US government. Where's God who is supposed to protect the innocent?

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owais replied on

he did what most of mine blood could not do. Our jobs are more precious to us. May ALLAH have mercy over him and guide him to his Deen. Ameen

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Layal replied on

Thank you dr Gilbert for every thing you have done to gaza .may ALLAH bless you and your family

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Layal replied on

Thank you dr Gilbert for every thing you have done to gaza .may ALLAH bless you and your family

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Peter Loeb replied on

The US (and its so-called "allies" paid for at the door) often make many of us
feel alone in the wilderness. It is against the law here to support the resistance.
I do, of course, though not the call for an all-Islamic state. Admiration for
HAMAS and other participants in the resistance!

It is an odd and marvelous, experience to read words with which I agree with
Dr. Gilbert with my heart and soul. This is not only "truth to power" (which is criminal here, of course).

---Peter Loeb, Boston, MA, USA

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Babuskha replied on

Dr. Mads Gilbert is certainly useful to Gaza...but his experience is the verso of the military experiment & criminal weapons business, the Western OTAN Community wants to get benefit:
France, Italy, Germany, UK, netherland, Danmark, Sweden (Saab Gripen), Spain, Swiss (Oerlikon Group), Austria... have commissioned this study to Dr. Mads Gilbert, as well the crimes to Tsahal/Israeli killers!

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Abdul Majid Zargar replied on

Siding with the oppressed & suppressed people of the world is just what a noble human being is supposed to do. Dr. Gilbert has precisely done that. My salutes to this wonderful person.

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Ifeta Redzovic replied on

Thank you Dr Mads! You truly are inspiration to humanity. May God keep you safe.

Ali Abunimah

Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, now out from Haymarket Books.

Also wrote One Country: A Bold-Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. Opinions are mine alone.