In the twilight zone of sorts I find myself in- neither free nor fully imprisoned – I have decided to give up my daily work release from prison for the next week, as a gesture of solidarity with the Palestine Action comrades on hunger strike in British prisons, a strike my friend and brother Stecco has also joined. I know that my staying in prison instead of going to work will not bother the prison administration in the least. But my message is not addressed to prison management – whom I have nothing to say to and nothing to ask of but to those who are fighting against the genocide of the Palestinian people, alongside its indomitable resistance.
What I can offer, along with this small gesture, is a basket of thoughts, a handful of words with which to express what is in my heart.
The strength that comes to me from British prisons which, in turn, reflects the tenacity of that resistance which Zionist prisons and administrative detention centers are unable to bow, despite the isolation, the torture, and the rapes has not only the form of a commonality of ethics and ideals, but also the intensity of the emotions I feel in reading the hunger strike statements.
I am convinced because I feel it in every fiber of my soul – that the worldwide stirring against the genocide in Gaza and against the global system that makes it possible is a new start, a beginning. In addition to what has happened in the streets, in the ports, in the universities; in addition to the sabotages done by day and by night, the protests that link prisoners across cell bars, countries, and continents are also an important sign of this. First of all, because the relationship being created between “inside” and “outside” is one of reciprocity and circularity, and not just one of support from “outside” to “inside”. The fact that the shutdown of all Elbit Systems establishments in the UK is one of Prisoners for Palestine’s demands shows the will not to separate one’s own fate from the liberation of Palestine, a goal that requires nothing less than the global subversion of the relations of power and exploitation, of which Zionist settler colonialism is an essential node.
The algorithmic genocide of the Palestinian people is the most heinous expression of a scientific- military-industrial system at war with the oppressed, with immigrants, with women, with those who are different, with children, with all life, and, at this point, with humans as such.
If, as Mohammed El-Kurd wrote, there are “seeds that sprout in hell”, the revolt against the hell of Gaza is sprouting an International of humankind.
The fact that State terrorists cry “terrorism” in the face of attempts to at least partially sabotage their genocidal violence means that they are starting to feel afraid. And so they should. Because burning hearts, unlike algorithms, are not predictable. And they are not predictable because they do not subordinate their seeking for freedom and justice to cost-benefit analyses. As a tree does not need to see all of the forest to know the great oak has been felled because it senses it through the close-knit network of its roots – so do those humans who refuse to become machines feel the suffering and the joy of other humans they will never meet. Solidarity between unknown sisters and brothers, whose deeds and words inflame us, is the moral leavening of every Intifada, the most precious gift in the basket.
Strength and courage to Palestinian prisoners. Strength and courage to prisoners for Palestine. Solidarity with Anan, Ali and Mansour. Side by side with my friend and comrade Stecco.
Trento prison, November 12th 2025
Massimo Passamani