In the early hours of October 17, news started to filter in that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had been killed by a small group of IDF soldiers in Tal as-Sultan, Rafah. Engaged in battle above ground, Sinwar stood face-to-face with the enemy in his last moments. 

For many, Sinwar will be remembered as just another assassinated terrorist. His entire life’s work and the complexities of his humanity will collapse into a neat box, easily dismissed. But there is something about Sinwar that speaks to the undying battle for liberation. Despite being the leader of Hamas, Sinwar fought alongside the same men he was appointed to lead. He possessed qualities that one of the authors recently noticed in the documentary Dope is Death, a remarkable story about tenacious resistance in face of insurmountable odds. Echoing the legacy of resistance groups like the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords, Sinwar stands as a symbol of hope and reminds us of the power of community-born resistance.

Resistance in the time of the Young Lords and Black Panthers

In Dope is Death, the Black Panthers and Young Lords join together to establish holistic support for addicts during the heroin epidemic in New York City. One moment in particular struck us in how it captured what resistance could actually feel like going up against insurmountable odds — and how that feeling persists throughout time and space. It was the recounting of the historic events of July 14, 1970 at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx. 

After hospital administration refused to address mounting complaints about poor care conditions, members of the community decided to take matters into their own hands. The New York chapter of the Young Lords stormed the hospital and seized control of the facility while ensuring there were no disruptions to medical treatment for patients. Using the hospital occupation and the attention it garnered as leverage, the Young Lords and members of the Black Panther Party were able to negotiate resolutions to the people’s demands, including the creation of a detox center within the hospital. 

The opening of Lincoln Detox laid the groundwork for a community-led effort to get to the root of addiction. The center was no longer just a detox center — it evolved into a conscious effort to invest in one another. Those coming in to deal with their afflictions were treated by members of their own community, receiving care that went beyond just treating symptoms. The center and the resources it provided became the seeds that were planted to imagine a different life. This was a truly visionary project, well ahead of its time, and it demonstrated to people in black and brown communities the possibilities of what their neighborhoods could look like. 

The Black Panthers’ early successes can be seen in the initiatives they enacted locally. Their revolutionary roots were deeply ingrained in the neighborhoods that molded their minds. As a result, the group’s message and mission were a source of empowerment and security for the people, providing for their necessities and giving them the tools to engineer their own liberation. 

Although the Black Panther Party disbanded in 1982, it didn’t dissolve their impressive influence on future visionaries who can quote Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis and Fred Hampton at will. Their impact has endured through the years despite attempts by the US government to stifle the movement. Their vision and actions were built upon their communities, becoming an eternal reminder of where true power lies. Decades later, the legacy of strength in community and undying commitment to a cause has once again been evoked through Sinwar’s death for the Palestinian resistance movement. 

The Palestinian fight for freedom

For many Palestinians, Hamas’s October 7, 2023, incursion into Israel wasn’t a random act of aggression. It was a response to an ever-escalating threat to their collective future in Gaza. Who can justify trapping two million people in an open-air concentration camp without any resistance? 

The world isn’t just watching the extermination of Palestinians. The world bears witness to the desecration of the land they so cherish and the cruelty of illegal settlers tearing them away from their ancestral homes. Their lives have been toyed with and trivialized at the hands of soldiers who do not hesitate to shoot, be it a Palestinian man, woman or child.

In the darkest hour, no country sent its military to aid the two million Palestinians who have been repeatedly victimized by a genocidal regime every day since October 2023. The only group standing up for the Palestinian people and facing the enemy is Hamas. The men who choose to fight have had their entire lives shaped by this unconscionable occupation. 

Sinwar’s novel The Thorn and the Carnation echoes the sentiments of many resistance fighters. He wrote, “A minute of living with dignity and pride is better than a thousand years of a miserable life under the boots of the occupation.” When much of the world was against Palestinians and did everything to normalize their displacement, the people’s will to resist stood as a constant reminder that Palestinians would not go gently into the night.  

The nature of resistance

Many Palestinians do not see their resistance as terrorism. In its early days, Hamas provided varied social services to Palestinians in Gaza, building medical centers, food banks and schools. The group took on the role of a community organizer that advocates for its people’s needs. Similar to the services the Black Panthers and the Young Lords provided in their own communities, Hamas works to establish protection and security for its people. 

The parallels between these groups are most evident in the communities that sparked their ascent to power. When facing systemic and exploitative oppression, fighting back is the only option for survival. For Palestinians, Hamas represents the only entity standing between them and total annihilation. So when Sinwar’s death was announced, the motivations behind divergent narratives coming from US media and social media were as clear as day.

News outlets and media agencies rushed to announce that the terrorist leader of Hamas and conspirator of the October 7 attacks was killed by the heroic IDF. Meanwhile, social media communities paid tribute to what his life’s work meant for the Palestinian people, and how the future of the resistance would be shaped by his legacy. Whether it be the Black Panthers and Young Lords or Hamas, every resistance movement essentially boils down to the one incontrovertible truth that the real power lies with the people.

Israel publishing the drone footage of Sinwar’s last moments further cemented his status as a fierce fighter who refused to back down. He was fearless even as he was faced with advanced IDF weaponry. A quiet but strong display of heroism, his death conveys a raw truth that transcends any attempted manipulation of who the man was and what his legacy will be. 

Years from now, people will learn about the Palestinian resistance and remember it for its tenacity in standing up to an unrelenting oppressor. Yahya Sinwar’s legacy is not just one of personal martyrdom, but a tribute to every Palestinian who dreams of freedom and will hold fast to a collective vision to the very end.

[Emma Johnson edited this piece.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.