Running time: 16 mins 7 secs
Every year since 1974 on April 17th, Palestinians and people of conscience commemorate Palestinian Prisoners Day. April 17th was chosen because this was the day that the first prisoner exchange occurred between Palestine and Israel – and prisoner exchanges are still play a central role in the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
The Palestinian Youth Movement organised the commemoration in London this year; obviously particularly emotional because of the thousands of people in both Gaza and the West Bank who have been taken hostage, imprisoned and tortured since October 7, but also because of the martyrdom in prison of Palestinian revolutionary and intellectual Walid Daqqa just two days previously.
Powerful readings took place from both Palestinian and non-Palestinian prisoners in the Arab speaking world, which also reaffirmed the point made in palestinian Youth Movement’s banner: “Prisoners are the compass of our struggle”.
