final inhibitions dissolve

Now that the war is over, the consequences of this damned war are beginning to show, and the post-war suffering has begun, no one has spoken about us. Even the voices that try to convey the truth are silenced and ignored, as you can see in the picture... They want to hide our suffering and turn us into identityless and voiceless numbers. I am Fadel from Gaza, one of the wounded who miraculously survived after our home was bombed while we were inside. I was hit by metal shrapnel that is still embedded in my body, causing me constant pain and preventing me from moving normally.

(Doctors here are unable to remove it, and they have said my condition requires urgent surgery abroad before the injury worsens and becomes more serious).

The news of Assata Shakur’s death in Havana, Cuba, on September 26, was met with a deep sense of shared loss among revolutionaries and activists worldwide. Shortly after, at a gathering in New York, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, spoke simply, “We fulfilled our duty.” This humble statement encapsulated four decades of unwavering commitment by the Cuban state to protect one of the United States’ most hunted revolutionaries and let her live her life as a free woman. Cuba’s steadfast stance, despite immense pressure and threats, highlights a fundamental truth: a nation’s principles are revealed not just by its words, but by the people it chooses to protect. [...]

On May 2, 1973, Assata was stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike with two fellow BLA members. A shootout ensued, resulting in the death of a New Jersey State Trooper and one of her comrades, Zayd Malik Shakur. Assata herself was shot and seriously wounded. What followed was a highly publicized trial that was widely condemned as a political witch-hunt. Assata was charged with murder, despite being shot in the back and having her hands up. The evidence against her was flimsy and circumstantial, with forensic experts testifying that her wounds made it physically impossible for her to have fired a weapon.

Despite the lack of credible evidence, she was convicted in 1977. In a system designed to crush dissent and criminalize Black people, her conviction was a foregone conclusion. “I am a 20th-century escaped slave,” she famously said. “Because the legal system in the United States is vicious, racist, and unjust. And I had no hope for a fair trial.”

After two years in prison, on November 2, 1979, she made her legendary escape with the help of fellow BLA members. This act of liberation was not just for her but was a powerful symbol for the movement.

After her daring escape, Assata Shakur found her way to Cuba, where she was given political asylum in 1984. For the US government, this was a direct affront. The pressure on Cuba to return her began almost immediately and never ceased. The campaign against her was not just a pursuit of a fugitive; it was an attempt to make an example of a prominent revolutionary and to punish Cuba for its solidarity with her.

The US government repeatedly attempted to criminalize Cuba’s decision to grant her asylum by labeling the country a “state sponsor of terrorism”. The bounty on Assata’s head was a constant reminder of this campaign. In 2005, the reward was set at USD 1 million, a move that coincided with a period of increased hostility and renewed threats from the Bush administration against Cuba. In 2013, the FBI, under the Obama administration, elevated her to its Most Wanted Terrorist list, a classification typically reserved for al-Qaeda and ISIS leaders, and increased the bounty to USD 2 million. This unprecedented move was meant to demonize her and justify any action taken against her, including attempts to capture her “dead or alive”. The use of billboards, particularly in New Jersey, was a public relations campaign designed to rally public opinion against her and against Cuba.

Cuban officials consistently and forcefully defended their decision. Fidel Castro called her a “true political prisoner” who was “a victim of the fierce repression against the Black movement.” In his view, the US attempt to portray her as a terrorist was “an injustice, a brutality, an infamous lie.” In a show of continued defiance, other officials and ordinary people alike in Cuba have echoed this sentiment, viewing her as an honored guest and a sister in struggle. For Cuba, granting asylum to Assata was not just a matter of politics but a matter of principle, a testament to its anti-imperialist and anti-racist convictions.

The US government’s obsession with Assata Shakur is thrown into stark relief when compared to its treatment of Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch Ávila, two of the most notorious anti-Cuban terrorists. Both men were Cuban exiles who were openly funded and trained by the CIA to carry out a campaign of violence against the Cuban Revolution.

Their most infamous act was the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 in October 1976. The civilian airliner exploded in mid-air shortly after takeoff from Barbados on its way to Jamaica, killing all 73 people on board, including the entire Cuban national fencing team. Both Posada Carriles and Bosch were arrested in Venezuela for the crime. However, they were eventually released, and both found their way back to the United States.

Posada Carriles, a former CIA asset trained in sabotage, explosives, and guerrilla warfare, was directly implicated in the bombing and other terrorist attacks across Latin America. Despite overwhelming evidence and his own admissions in a 1998 interview with the New York Times, the US government refused to extradite him to Cuba or Venezuela. In 2005, he was arrested in the US for illegal entry but was later released on a technicality.

Similarly, Orlando Bosch, who was arrested and briefly imprisoned in the US for a bazooka attack on a Polish freighter in Miami, was later allowed to return to the US after a concerted lobbying effort from prominent Cuban-American politicians. The US Department of Justice officially described him as a terrorist, yet he was pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.

The contrasting treatment of Assata Shakur and these two terrorists speaks volumes about the US government’s true priorities. While it hunted a Black revolutionary for decades, it provided a safe haven to men who committed acts of mass murder against Cuban civilians. This profound hypocrisy exposes a clear double standard: dissent at home is labeled as terrorism, while violence against a so-called enemy abroad is deemed a justifiable political act. It underscores the political nature of Assata’s persecution and the double standards of the US justice system. It cements her place as a symbol of resistance against a deeply flawed and unjust system. Meanwhile, to this day, Cuba remains on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

Books are in short supply in Gaza right now. Omar has been saving books during the war and taking him with them through multiple displacements. He shared his packing and transport on September 6, 2025.

Omar is on Instagram @ omar.hamad7. He has a Chuffed fundraiser as well.