[Photo by IRNA]
Resistance against your oppressor is justified.
The Helot Revolt
Everyone has heard of the Spartans, but it was the Helot slaves who kept the most militaristic society in history functioning. Helots took care of the farming, the cooking, cleaning, and even the childcare while the Spartans were out on campaign. Sometimes the Helots had the opportunity to fight alongside the Spartans and battle provided a rare opportunity for freedom.
The Spartiates were always outnumbered by the Helots, often by as much as ten to one, and bringing them into military campaigns required a delicate balancing act.
https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/ancient-history/spartan-helots/
In 464 BCE, after an earthquake devastated Sparta, the Helots saw an opportunity to fight back against their oppressors. The Spartans had to call in external forces to suppress the justified Helot rebellion.
Spartacus
Spartacus is the most famous slave in history — it feels unnecessary to write anything about him that hasn’t already been said. An award winning film and TV series has been made about Spartacus and his resistance against Rome. A slave turned gladiator turned freedom fighter who led the Third Servile War with his fellow gladiators and other freed slaves.
Spartacus and his band of gladiators and other slaves broke out of their gladiator school (ludus), in Capua, in 73 BCE. Less than 100 knew of the plot, and these were largely the gladiators. Fighting with stolen kitchen utensils, they quickly looted the armory and gained more followers by the minute. The men stormed out of Capua but quickly turned to fight off a small pursuing force, before deciding to head to Vesuvius.
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ancient-history/battle-mount-vesuvius-spartacus-men-rapelling-mountain.html
While the Roman forces, led under Praetor Gaius Claudius Glaber at the time, thought this slave army weren’t meant to be taken seriously — Spartacus showed them otherwise. Glaber’s army camped at the bottom of Mount Vesuvius, hoping to starve the slaves out, but Spartacus and his men built ropes out of vine to to rappel down the mountain in an unprecedented ambush.
When people under occupation are against a force with superior technology and a better position — it’s their wits and hunger for freedom which leads to victory!
The Native American People Fight Back
If you haven’t already heard of it, you should look up the Trail of Tears, but this wasn’t the first time the natives were rooted out of their homeland. There’s too many conflicts to talk about, so let’s discuss what’s known as the Indian Massacre of 1622, which was a group of tribes known as the Powhatan Confederacy launching an offensive against all the settlements on the James River.
The name portrays it as a completely unprovoked attack, like it happened for no reason — as if the indigenous people were living in a utopia created by the colonizers, and for no reason these savages decided to attack wonderful Europeans…yes, sounds like a real familiar narrative.
The indigenous people traded with the colonists, which the tribes were open to — but they weren’t open to losing their land. There was a drought in 1609, and the Powhatan didn’t have enough resources to trade — so the settlers stole from them. They also continued their land expansion. Eventually the native people had enough and fought back.
The Sons of Liberty
The founders of our country called themselves The Sons of Liberty — the Redcoats surely thought of them as a terrorist group.
The Sons of Liberty was a secret underground society created due to the social and political fallout of the French and Indian War.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/who-were-sons-liberty
They’re famously known for the Boston Tea Party and this group’s actions led to the American Revolution. If you’ve heard of “No Taxation Without Representation” or “Give me liberty or give me death!” — the Sons of Liberty were behind those phrases. They used propaganda to fuel the war for American independence.
The Sons of Liberty were willing to kill over taxes — the Palestinian Resistance has something far greater to fight for.
The French Revolution
The French Revolution was a violent uprising of the masses against the elites of their society. They could no longer withstand the abuse and responded with pure violence — famously using the guillotine to execute the tyrannical ruling classes.
Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion
The Transatlantic Slave Trade was abhorrent — even when compared to global history of slavery overall. There were multiple slave rebellions occurring, but Nat Turner’s Rebellion is the most famous. Nat Turner and his group was anything far from perfect — Turner believing God personally chose him to end slavery. His group killed 55 white people, including men, women, and children. While the rebellion lasted less than 24 hours, the message was clear.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Holocaust and the Jewish ghettos are well known, and eventually the Jews had enough of their inhumane treatment.
On April 19, 1943, the eve of the Passover holiday, the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto began their final act of armed resistance against the Germans. Lasting twenty-seven days, this act of resistance came to be known as the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/warsaw-ghetto-uprising
The resistance group was known as ZOB which means The Jewish Combat Organization. The ZOB fighters weren’t as well armed as the Nazis, but they certainly put up a fight. In the end, the ghettos were razed to the ground and Warsaw was set on fire.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandel was on a US terrorist watch list until 2008.
“We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” – in a 1997 speech on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/nelson-mandela-30-years-palestine
