History does not flatter the weak. It tells us repeatedly that the path to freedom is carved by resistance, not by reconciliation imposed from the stronger party. Algeria under French rule, Cuba under Batista and U.S. dominance, and Vietnam under French and later American occupation – all stand as enduring testimonies that resistance, often at immense human cost, is the midwife of liberty.
Today, as Palestinians in Gaza endure genocide at the hands of Israel, and Kashmiris are subjected to India’s Hindutva-driven fascism, the central question emerges: is reconciliation with such regimes possible, or is resistance the only road to justice? Recent Arab and Islamic summits, convened under the banners of the OIC, produced lofty rhetoric but no concrete action to halt Israeli atrocities. The hollowness of their declarations reminds us once more: without resistance, freedom remains a mirage.
Algeria: Freedom by Blood, Not by Negotiation
French colonization of Algeria, lasting 132 years, sought to erase Algerian identity and anchor French settlers as masters of the land. The National Liberation Front (FLN) concluded by the mid-1950s that petitions, dialogue, or reconciliation were futile. Only organized resistance, guerrilla warfare, and sacrifice could dislodge colonial power.
The Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) claimed over a million Algerian lives. It was this colossal resistance that forced Paris to negotiate and ultimately concede independence. Reconciliation was possible only after the oppressor was militarily and politically weakened – never before.
Lesson: freedom was wrested, not gifted.
Cuba: Revolution against Dictatorship and Empire
Cuba in the 1950s was dominated by the Batista dictatorship, backed and armed by the United States. Reconciliation with Batista meant legitimizing tyranny and foreign exploitation. The July 26th Movement led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara instead turned to guerrilla struggle.
By 1959, the Cuban Revolution toppled Batista and charted a sovereign path for Cuba. Had the revolutionaries compromised, Cuba would have remained a playground of foreign corporations and mafia cartels.
Lesson: reconciliation with fascist or imperial projects is nothing more than surrender.
Vietnam: The Triumph of Resistance Over Superpower Might
Vietnam’s saga is perhaps the most striking example of the futility of reconciliation with occupiers. The Vietnamese fought first against French colonial rule and then against American occupation. At Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the Viet Minh resistance shattered French might. Later, decades of struggle, culminating in 1975, expelled U.S. forces and unified Vietnam.
The American proposal of reconciliation always carried a price: accept subjugation. Ho Chi Minh and his comrades understood that no oppressor relinquishes power voluntarily. Resistance was the only guarantee of freedom.
Lesson: resistance can defeat even the most formidable superpowers.
Palestine: The Crucible of Resistance in Our Time
Fast forward to today. Palestinians in Gaza face one of the most ferocious campaigns of ethnic cleansing in modern times. Entire neighborhoods have been flattened, families wiped out, hospitals bombed, and food supplies strangled. Israel frames “dialogue” and “peace processes” as conditions for Palestinians to legitimize their dispossession. Oslo, Camp David, Abraham Accords – each iteration of reconciliation produced only deeper colonization, more settlements, and greater apartheid.
Yet, despite Israel’s overwhelming military machinery, Palestinian resistance endures. From the tunnels of Gaza to the voices of youth in the West Bank, resistance is keeping the dream of freedom alive. The genocidal assault on Gaza since October 2023 is brutal proof that reconciliation with a fascist project bent on extermination is not merely impossible – it is suicidal.
Lesson: reconciliation is offered only as surrender; resistance is survival.
Kashmir: India’s Fascist Trap of “Reconciliation”
The Kashmiri struggle reflects a similar dynamic. Since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, India’s Hindutva regime has flooded the valley with troops, silenced dissent, and weaponized “dialogue” as a trap. Reconciliation in New Delhi’s lexicon means accepting permanent subjugation. Dissent is criminalized, demographic engineering continues, and reconciliation becomes a euphemism for forced assimilation.
Like Palestine, Kashmir’s reality underscores that resistance is not a choice but an existential necessity.
The OIC and Arab Summits: Rhetoric without Resistance
When Gaza burned under Israeli bombs, the world looked to the Arab and Muslim leadership for a response. Summits were convened under the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Leaders issued statements of condemnation, called for ceasefires, and appealed to international law. Yet, beyond the words, there was no actionable plan:
No oil embargo on Israel’s backers,
No collective diplomatic rupture with Tel Aviv,
No mobilization of resources to materially support Gaza.
The failure was glaring. Israel continued its genocide with impunity, secure in the knowledge that the Arab regimes would not translate words into resistance. The OIC, once imagined as a collective voice of the Muslim world, has been reduced to a theatre of platitudes.
Lesson: without resistance, summits are mere rituals of impotence.
Reconciliation after Resistance, Not Before
This is not to suggest that reconciliation is eternally irrelevant. Post-apartheid South Africa provides an important caveat. Nelson Mandela’s strategy of reconciliation gained meaning only because decades of resistance, sacrifice, and international solidarity had already dismantled the core structures of apartheid. Reconciliation became a tool for healing after victory, not a substitute for struggle.
For Palestinians and Kashmiris, the lesson is clear: reconciliation must follow resistance, never replace it.
Conclusion: Resistance as the Midwife of Freedom
From Algiers to Havana to Hanoi, the 20th century proved that freedom is never bestowed by oppressors. It is seized through blood, sacrifice, and defiance. Palestinians and Kashmiris today stand in that same crucible. Reconciliation with fascist regimes in Israel and India – regimes committed to dispossession and erasure – cannot deliver freedom.
As Frantz Fanon declared in The Wretched of the Earth: “Decolonization is always a violent phenomenon. It is the replacing of one ‘species’ of men by another.” His words remind us that freedom comes only through rupture, not compromise.
Ho Chi Minh told his people in 1946: “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom.” For Vietnam, those words were not rhetoric but a call to arms against empire.
And Fidel Castro, standing firm against U.S. domination, reminded the world: “A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past.”
For Gaza and Kashmir, the choice is the same. Resistance is not an option; it is survival. Reconciliation, until justice is secured, remains nothing more than a euphemism for submission.
Freedom is a gift of resistance; reconciliation without justice is the graveyard of nations.
