Press Release 12 November 2004
sumud : to stay put, to cling to your own home and land by all means available
Sumud is watching your home turned into a prison.
You, samid, choose to stay in that prison, because it is your home, and because you fear that if you leave, your jailer will not allow you to return. Living like this, you must constantly resist the temptation of either acquiescing in the jailer’s plan, in numb despair, or becoming crazed by consuming hatred for your jailer and yourself, the prisoner.
The Third Way, Raja Shehadeh (1982)
Scottish Friends of Palestine expresses condolences to both the family of Yasser Arafat and to his people. Yasser Arafat was the epitome of that Palestinian quality, sumud, perseverance and steadfastness.
It is a fitting legacy that the rights of the Palestinian people, for which he fought for most of his life, must be at the heart of any move to bring peace to the troubled Middle East and the wider world.
It is a fitting legacy that the example and achievement of one person is now mirrored amongst the millions of samid who continue the struggle for freedom with a measure of justice.
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