The Land Where Humanity's Conscience is Tested...
Gaza... The world's largest open-air prison is one of the most severe tests of conscience in history. This land, which has been left breathless by Israel's blockade policy for years, is testing not only the conscience of the Palestinian people but also the common conscience of all humanity. Children forced to live in the shadow of bombs, families on the streets without electricity and water, a people rebuilding hope amidst destroyed houses... And in all this darkness, there is a light standing tall: sumud.
It is a great mistake to see Gaza only as a geography where bombs fall. Gaza is also a line of conscience where the global system, the imperialist order, regional power calculations and the historical reflexes of the left are tested. Israel's tanks and airplanes are visible, but the silence, diplomatic hypocrisy and calculations of interest that make them possible are as destructive as the weapons.
Sumud: Name of Resistance and Hope
Sumud is the Palestinian's attachment to his land, his identity and his dignity. Putting stones on stones again even though their houses are destroyed, taking root again even though their olive trees are cut down, keeping hope alive in the eyes of their children... This is sumud. This resistance that flourishes in the narrow streets of Gaza, in the shadow of bombs, in the midst of hunger and poverty, is a lesson for humanity: Oppression can rule with tyranny, but it cannot silence hope.
Sumud is not only a form of resistance against the Israeli occupation. It is also a silent but unwavering rejection of any understanding that instrumentalizes the Palestinian people and turns them into the object of others“ strategic calculations. The Palestinian people do not accept being the object of occupation, nor do they accept being the material for proxy wars waged under the name of ”support".
Palestine's Current Picture 2026
Bugün 2026’da Filistin’in durumu hâlâ ağırdır. İsrail’in abluka ve işgal politikaları Gazze ekonomisini çökertmiş, altyapıyı yok etmiş, sağlık sistemini felç etmiş, işsizlik ve yoksulluğu zirveye taşımıştır. Birleşmiş Milletler Filistin Ajansı’nın verilerine göre Gazze’de işsizlik oranı %50’nin üzerinde, genç işsizliği ise %70’e yaklaşmaktadır. Elektrik ve su kesintileri günlük yaşamın normali, hastaneler temel ilaç ve malzeme sıkıntısı içinde, çocuklar açlık ve psikolojik travmalarla büyümeye zorlanıyor.
The political split between Hamas and Fatah weakens Palestine's influence in the international arena. The silence of the world community and the ineffectiveness of international organizations make a two-state solution an increasingly remote prospect. However, despite all this negative picture, the Palestinian people's hope stands firm. The stone of the child, the prayer of the mother, the resistance of the youth is the common heritage of all humanity.
Hamas and Iran: Palestine Between Resistance and Proxy
Today's Palestinian reality cannot be explained solely by Israel's occupation policies. The political-military structure established by Hamas in Gaza and Iran's regional strategies have become factors that directly affect the fate of the Palestinian people. While Hamas claims to represent the resistance, it is unable to put forward a long-term and inclusive political future program that will protect the civilian life of the Palestinian people. This approach, which absolutizes armed resistance, is used as a justification for the disproportionate violence used by Israel and the people of Gaza pay the price.
For Iran, the Palestinian issue is often not a matter of moral solidarity, but a tool in the regional power struggle. The Palestinian demand for freedom is instrumentalized in Tehran's geopolitical calculations with Washington and Tel Aviv. Yet sumud is the honor of a people who refuse to be pawns on the chessboard of other powers.
Arafat and the Turkish Left
Yasser Arafat's legacy sheds light on the Palestinian struggle today. Arafat was not only a leader, but an international symbol of Palestinian identity and resistance. For the Turkish left, Arafat was a figure of solidarity rather than ideological affinity. In the 1970s and 1980s, the socialist movement in Turkey saw the Palestinian cause as a universal struggle against imperialism and oppression. This approach was a source of both inspiration and criticism, especially for the younger generations.
Deniz Gezmiş and the Palestinian Legacy
In this context, the relationship of Deniz Gezmiş and his friends with the Palestinian struggle gains importance. For Deniz Gezmiş, Hüseyin İnan and Yusuf Aslan, Palestine was not just a distant geography, but part of a universal resistance against imperialism and occupation. The young revolutionaries in Turkey took the resistance of the Palestinian people despite tanks and bombs as an example and saw this resistance as a symbol of their own anti-imperialist struggle. Deniz Gezmiş's sympathy for Palestine is the historical conscience of the Turkish left's tradition of international solidarity.
The Cautious Stance of the Turkish Left Today
Today, however, the Turkish left is mostly cautious and passive in its stance on Palestine. Social media messages, declarations and events are conscience-soothing, but they are no substitute for concrete policy. The children of Gaza, the families whose homes have been destroyed, the unemployed and hopeless youth cannot survive on cautious diplomacy. Sumud addresses the Turkish left: Passivity is no longer an option to defend human dignity.
The Turkish State, Discourse and Contradiction
Turkey's Palestine policy is shaped by loud moral discourses, but these discourses are in deep contradiction with the economic, military and diplomatic relations with Israel. The Palestinian issue often becomes a tool for domestic political mobilization; a permanent and principled international pressure line cannot be established. This contradiction makes it imperative for the Turkish left to establish a consistent and principled Palestine line independent of the state.
Current Attacks and the Crisis of Humanity
To remain silent on what is happening in Gaza today is to turn your back on the common heritage of humanity. In recent months, airstrikes and border violations have killed hundreds of civilians. United Nations reports show that children and medical personnel have been targeted. Israel's tanks, airplanes and walls may be temporary, but the sumud in the hearts of Palestinians is permanent.
Trump and the Dream of “Luxury Construction”: The Language of Neocolonialism
Donald Trump's “luxurious reconstruction after destruction” approach to Gaza is modern imperialism at its most naked. In this perspective, Palestinians are not subjects, but either obstacles or props. The land is transformed from a people's homeland into a real estate project of global capital. This understanding clearly shows that the occupation is not only a military, but also an economic and cultural liquidation.
The Necessity of Concrete Solidarity
The Turkish left has to concretize today the spirit of international solidarity represented by the Deniz Gezmişs in the past. Sympathy for Palestine cannot be limited to slogans. Unless political pressure, public opinion, real solidarity with international leftist networks and humanitarian support mechanisms are established, sumud will be reduced to a romantic word.
2026 and the Questioning of the Turkish Left
In 2026, the Palestine policies of the left in Turkey require a serious accounting. Discourses, declarations and wishes lose their meaning unless they turn into concrete policies. The cry of Gaza calls out to the conscience of Anatolia: People can be torn from their land and driven from their homes, but they will never give up hope.
Conclusion: Sumud, Universal Heritage
In conclusion, Sumoud is not only the resistance of Palestine, but of all humanity. For the left in Turkey, this is no longer an ideological choice, but a historical and moral obligation. Remaining silent against oppression is not neutrality. Sumoud is not the common heritage of a people, but of humanity.
This legacy stretching from Gaza to Anatolia, as Deniz Gezmiş reminds us, invites the Turkish left not only to think but also to act. Because fighting for freedom, justice and human dignity is the duty of the whole world, not just a region.