Basel Al-Araj: A Fighter And An Intellectual

Palestinian Information Center

As usual, Palestinian martyrs refuse to leave before fighting their own battles. They work in silence all their lives and let their actions behind to speak for them when they leave.

Basel al-Araj, the founder of the ideas of "inherent resistance" and "disappearance", was described as "theorist" and "deep thinker" who always wrote about "the individual battles" as a substitute for the absent mass uprisings.

The Palestinian pharmacist read about the armed popular resistance in the Galilee and the Triangle Area during the British Mandate in Palestine. He realized that the "guerrilla warfare" is the best tactic to exhaust the contemporary occupier.

On the popular level, Araj joined the mass demonstrations supporting the boycott of "Israel" including the protest organized against the visit of the former "Israeli" war minister Shaul Mofaz to the Palestinian Authority [PA] in 2012. Basel was beaten and injured by the PA security forces.

Basel, the brave, as his name mean in Arabic, was called by the "Israeli" Security Agency [Shin Bet] "the leader of the armed wing of the youth movement". He managed to disappear for a long time, applying his own idea, and refused to hand himself over despite the fact that his family house was raided by the "Israeli" occupation forces [IOF] dozens of times in search for him.

Academic excellence

Araj studied pharmacy at one of the most prestigious Egyptian universities. He could have been one of the best Palestinian academics, but the mentality he had made him in a constant search for a cure for the Palestinian situation.

The Palestinian young man, who fought a long battle with political arrests while being chased by the "Israeli" occupation at the same time, succeeded finally in passing a lesson of life and freedom to his people.

Araj lived in al-Walaja village in Bethlehem province, one of the most hot spots which embraces popular resistance in the West Bank, and was one of the main activists there against the wall, the settlement and the confiscation of lands.

Araj is known for his interest in all details related to the Palestinian resistance. He participated in preparing a study on the characteristics of the martyrs who had carried out car-ramming and stabbing operations during the past two years. When Basel was asked about the martyrs of his study he said, "They have lived in me. Words cannot describe them."

The Palestinian activist worked in a project documenting the most important stages of the Palestinian revolution since the thirties of the last century against the British Mandate to the "Israeli" occupation by organizing field trips with youth groups to introduce these stages to them on the ground.

Among the most important topics that Araj has blogged about was the guerrilla warfare tactic, which he described as "brigandage based on a political project", in addition to the 1936 revolution, the Iraqi army battalion which fought in Palestine in 1948, the rural area of Jenin city as a resistance model in both the past and the present, as well as the modern resistance operations of 2002 in Wad al-Nasara in al-Khalil city.

A friend of Basel said, "It is true they managed to assassinate the initiator of the youth movement who did not belong to any faction, yet his spirit is still with us. Bodies fade away but ideas remain."

The disappearance of the six youths

On 31st March 2016, six Palestinian youths, including Basel al-Araj, disappeared in the city of Ramallah for a number of days in mysterious circumstances before they were arrested by the PA's Intelligence amid intensive search operations conducted by the IOF.

The PA's security forces arrested the six youths in Ramallah Mountains. They were later accused by "Israel" of planning to carry out a joint operation against an "Israeli" settlement.

Araj was transferred along with his companions to the PA's Ariha [Jericho] prison where he was charged with planning for an armed attack. Protesting these charges, he and the other five youths went on hunger strike until they were able to get a court ruling stipulating their release.

The youths were released following a long hunger strike and a six-month detention. However, Basel remained chased by the IOF. On Monday, the IOF raided the house where he was hiding in Qaddura refugee camp in Ramallah. Araj refused to surrender. He started an armed clash to the last bullet and fell martyr after two hours of direct confrontation with the IOF.

Source: PIC, Edited by website team