There is a remarkable scene that repeats throughout history in Cloud Atlas, the 2012 film based on the novel by David Mitchell. Sonmi-451, a clone woman serving the upper class, realizes she must revolt. She says that the systems that carry out oppression “must be turned down.”

She adds: “We must all fight and if necessary die to teach people the truth.”

Days pass, and the revolution fails. Moments before her execution, Sonmi-451 is asked by a historian working for her corporate captors whether she knew that the rebels’ plan would fail.

Surprised and equally indignant by her affirmative answer, the historian asks why she did it. She answers calmly, with a concealed smile: “If I had remained invisible, the truth would stay hidden. I couldn’t allow that.”

Probing further, the historian replies: “And what if no one believes this ‘truth’?”

She answers unperturbed: “Someone already does.”

Purpose

There are many of us in Gaza who sometimes privately wonder if there is a logical explanation for all the pain and hardships we are enduring. Is there a purpose to this much suffering?

Since 1948, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been born and died under occupation. The only thing that seems to change in our indefinite state of limbo is that the prospects of peace and exercising our right to self-determination on our own land appear more distant with each passing year.

And yet, we remain. Despite the struggle, the setbacks and the suffering, our very existence and perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds are, in themselves, a quiet but powerful victory. Our continued presence – our resilience – is a testament that the spirit of this land and its people cannot be erased, even as the obstacles seem insurmountable.

The purpose of enduring pain may not be about achieving immediate success but rather about preserving a legacy of truth, resilience and hope. Through personal sacrifice one liberates oneself from the limitations of one’s current situation, finding strength and meaning in knowing that one’s struggles will pave the way for others.

By keeping these values alive, individuals pass the torch to future generations, inspiring them not only to continue where others left off but to realize a greater vision where collective success becomes possible. In this way, the sacrifice of the self serves a larger purpose, uplifting many and becoming an act of freedom in itself.

This is perhaps why Sonmi-451 is told by her oppressor in Cloud Atlas: “There is a natural order to this world … and the truth is this order must be protected.”

In a later scene, another rebel from a different time and place, whose experience parallels that of Sonmi-451, is told by his oppressor: “For what? No matter what you do, it will never amount to anything more than a single drop in a limitless ocean!”

The rebel looks up, smirks and responds, speaking to the power of endurance and unity: “What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?”

Resistance shapes history

History shows that change comes about with resistance – often a small group of seemingly ordinary people rising up to demand change. From a word of protest addressed to the person at the center of power to taking up arms against those with military might, resistance is as ancient as history itself.

This history is traced from Karbala, where Hussein ibn Ali faced oppression in the quest for freedom, to the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto, where people dug tunnels as part of their fight against the Nazis. For Nelson Mandela, it was a long walk to freedom against apartheid in South Africa.

Actions led by the resistance, like Palestine’s Al-Aqsa Flood, are among hundreds of such examples often synonymous with staking a rightful claim to freedom, dignity and justice at the cost of imprisonment, death and annihilation.

Palestinians understand that sacrifice and pain are the price for their right to freedom and self-determination. But Israelis generally do not favor this path of sacrifice, the difficult path.

The former British diplomat Alastair Crooke says of Israelis, particularly the young men in the military who he describes as “post-modern”: “Suffering is not something that they welcome. Suffering is something you avoid. Suffering is something that has no meaning and has no value.”

Crooke adds that by contrast, the Israelis are “facing an enemy which does see meaning in suffering, which does see meaning in loss of life.” Even if the “bloodshed is terrible, it is ghastly … it’s something that can preserve your people, even if you will not be there at the time. It is a very different type of thinking and a way of thinking.”

Meanwhile, the masses of humanity are firmly on the side of the Palestinians. This may not necessarily result in liberation today. But it will precipitate what those who have studied history closely know to be inevitable, including the exiled Israeli historian Ilan Pappe. This is the fuel that Israel is unable to stop flowing into Gaza and it gives everyone, young and old, hope that Palestine will soon one day be free.

Most revolutions and freedom struggles only succeed after time, repeated efforts and many setbacks along the way. The key to enduring the pain and suffering is to recognize that the aim is not to achieve everything all at once. Instead, acknowledge that every drop in the ocean matters.

As long as the cause is immortalized in the hearts and minds of the masses, victory is as certain as daylight following a long dark night of pain and suffering.

Asem Alnabih is an engineer and PhD researcher currently based in north Gaza. He serves as the spokesperson for the Gaza Municipality and has written for many platforms in both Arabic and English.

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• Palestinian resistance
• resistance
• Alastair Crooke

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