The hour of liberation has arrived
Imperialists, out!
Our people is aware and armed
It disturbs the oppressor
The will of the people
will crush the aggressor
The hour of liberation has arrived
Imperialists, out!
Our generation is ready for the rough battle
It hits the enemy in the heart
Only dialogue with the occupiers: arms
The hour of liberation has arrived
Imperialists, out!
Stand up with courage
Remember the past of oppression, of misery
Walk forward...
Turn the oppression of Oman into light
THE HOUR OF LIBERATION HAS ARRIVED
this film has been produced thanks to the supporters...
of the Arabian Gulf's people struggle...
Arab workers and students...
European progressives...
We thank the Yemeni Labour Union...
and the Gulf-Yemen-Palestine Commitee of Great Britain
comments: Youssef Salman Youssef
Sound: J.L. Ughetto
Image: Michel Humeau
Oman free zone:
Dhofar's province
The British government...
falsely evacuated the Arabian Gulf in 1971
In fact, it has delivered the north's bases to the U.S.
and escalated the war of aggression in the south of the Gulf...
against the people of Oman
Why does Britain bomb and kill?
Answer: oil
"Great Britain possess a third of Machrek's oil
without this oil, life would stop in the island."
- School of Strategic Studies, London.
Two-thirds of the world's oil resources are located within the Arabian Gulf
and it produces a quarter of it.
The US has enormous interests in the Gulf's oil
Protecting this oil...
is vital for the U.S and its allies,
thirsty for energy
admits Joseph Sisco.
The Arabian Gulf has been colonised for a long time.
England has occupied the region since the end of the 18th century
because of its strategic importance.
Oil increased Britain's interests
The occupier maintained the under-devlopment...
created junk states
and governed with his armies and agents.
The anti colonial's struggle has been restless.
Insurrections aroused everywhere...
In Oman's Djebek Akhdar, in Bahrein, in Sharjah.
People of the Gulf, unite...
and carry on the fight.
O my poor brother...
Let us oust the people's enemies of our land
People of the Gulf, unite...
and carry on the fight.
The western occupier...
rules in our land and hides our sun
People of the Gulf, unite...
and carry on the fight.
Britain retaliated by building new bases
in Salala, Masira, Hamala
and allowed the US to use them.
The occupier is afraid of the People,
In Bahrein, the occupier built three bases:
Jufair, for the Marine,
Muharaq for the R.A.F,
and Hamala for the Infantery.
With these methods, the occupiers plunder the national wealth of the Gulf
As for the people, they get nothing.
So many crimes have been committed...
they left nothing but division and misery...
At he same time, imperialism threw bits of its "super profits"
to a handful of privileged individuals...
who sold their people
and the land of their ancestors.
The oppression and the failures of the past...
led to the outbreak of the armed struggle in the mountains...
in Dhofar, in 1965.
Oppose organised revolutionary violence
in the neighbour Yemen,
the struggle against the British occupier
extended to the countrysides and cities
Since october 1963,
the Yemenites guided by the F.N.L (liberation national front)
led the armed struggle.
Despite the campaigns of repression,
the British were ousted in November, 1967.
The Democratic Yemen became independent.
Weakened, Britain had to withdraw from its bases
in the Gulf's north, and leave them to the USA...
and gave a false independence to the region
Flag, Constitution and Parliament,
all of it meaningless,
so was the independence granted to Bahrein, Qatar and the UAE
People of the Gulf, beware...
of the neocolonialist's conspiracy
baptised "United Emirates"
Look what the power does against you,
A word from the British, and they obey like slaves
Sir Geoffrey Arthur signed with the Union...
a treaty guaranteeing British interests
1) right for the R.A.F to fly over the Union
2) right for the Navy to use harbors
3) right for British officers to control the army's training
The aim is to 'Arabise' repression
What is the purpose of this army?
Fight against the Shah?
Or suppress the Arab people?
Defeat imperialism!
In Oman, the people's war is victorious.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf
has liberated the Southern province
and the Revolution extends to the north of Oman
Britain is compelled to replace...
Saïd Ben Taymour...
with Kabous... the former sultan's son!
We know this traitor very well...
and from whom he descends...
they are all Britain's lackeys.
Kabous is a Sandhurst graduate.
Mission: overturn the Revolution.
He immediately made promises of reforms
that he inaugurated with a one million pounds palace
ad published in "Design"
Slavery has not been reformed.
These men were Saïd's slaves,
they are now Kabous' slaves
The growth of foreign presence
was the main reform.
Hugh Oldman remained Ministry of Defense
Col Graham remained the Army's leader
British press made calls for mercenaries
The repression against the free zone intensified
The British planned and participated in operations
the R.A.F. was widely used
But these campaigns collapsed against the resistance of the free zone
After this, Kabous changed some of the English officers
and increased the hiring of Baloch mercenaries.
The U.S., holders of the majority of the Gulf's oil...
intervened through their agents...
Faisal offered 180 million pounds
Houssein, the Palestinian people's butcher
offered his police.
Iran's Shah , defying his people's will,
sent a part of his army
This "Holy Alliance" escalated
the war of agression against the people of Oman...
This wounded woman is telling, in the local language (Hymiarite)...
the sory of an air raid
I was next to the caverns..
when planes started bombing.
We went inside.
While trying to save a child,
I was injured too...
I fainted...
When I woke up, I saw my blood dripping...
the child was bleeding too.
This man tells how planes bombed the caverns
Destroying, killing, burning...
this is the occupier's logic,
but he is only digging his own grave.
Down with imperialism!
We shall overcome!
This is the workers and peasants' revolution!
Down with Sultans!
Down with emirs!
This is the workers and peasants ' revolution!
Here are the hills of the free zone of Oman
Its inhabitants are nomadic herdsmen.
The under-development was imposed by Said Ben Taymour,
he banished schools,
hospitals, roads, and shops...
He fostered tribal divisions
and filled prisons with hundreds of people...
Poverty made the inhabitants migrate
in the Gulf's north, because Oman's oil...
was forbidden to them (even to work in it)
To the occupiers, a sea of oil...
to the people, misery.
This accelerated the Revolution by the Popular Front
for the liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf.
This revolution broke out with seven rifles and three guns.
At the time, we were eating once a day,
every three days because of the economic blockade
We were eating tree leaves.
The beginnings of the revolution were very difficult.
Then came the Second Congress
which operated radical changes
It gave women all their rights.
then the Front manged to control 95% of the Dhofar.
The secret of victories of the Popular Liberation Army:
is the armed people
The Popular militia is crucial in a war for liberation.
It guarantees logistic and fights
in the military and economic front on a daily basis.
Mobilise the people!
Through the people's struggle
we shall end the occupation...
of the mountains and the Gulf's calves.
Everyone is mobilising...
these women have walked for a long time
to bring water to the P.L.A soldiers
The enemy is plotting:
Kabous is seeking to starve the free zone.
He attracts nomadic cattle herders
by offering double the price for their livestock.
The Front holds meetings to explain this stratagem.
Why does the authorities offer this much for a cow?
For our beautiful eyes?
No, this is a conspiracy.
It is to attract cattle helders...
impose the blockade and keep starving us...
The Front has limited the selling of cows in your interest.
Bkhit Ben Mouhad, former tribal leader tells in the local language
ow the Front has ended vendettas of the past.
The sultan used to pit us against one another...
for the use of water and  lands that we were assigned.
Unite the people's ranks!
But God put us in the path of Revolution
and we are happy about it
Before, we used to kill each other...
in order to feed and graze
after what, the sultan would imprison us.
the most important achievement of the Front...
is the liberation of women.
within the framework of the abolition
of all forms of oppression.
We were oppressed by multiples sultans:
the husband, the father, the tribal leader, the political sultan...
We had no rights, nor duties.
The Revolution has given us our rights
and we will be with the Revolution until death.
We measure the power of a revolution
with  the involvement of women
Since the Second Congress, the Front
has given women their freedom
It gave us schools, a military training
just like men
Before, I couldn't read nor write
I am 15 years old, my husband ...
brought me here so I could understand my rights
Once my training will be done,I will join the P.L.A
Not only to liberate Dhofar
but also the  entire Arabian Gulf
In every backward society,
women are twice oppressed,
she is trapped in her economic role
where men keep her.
Women can only become free
through a popular war
Too many things oppress her...
First, imperialism, then men
then her father who sells her to a husband
who oppresses her even more...
along with the family and the tribe.
Before, women couldn't protest.
We were told:
Stay still, you have no responsibilities.
Since the Revolution, we understood that it was not for our own good...
but to steal our soul...
and prevent us from serving the people.
I do not allow my family and tribe
to paralyze me anymore.
Now I stand up against these obstacles...
and move freely and I participate
in all the Revolution's activities.
The Revolution understood that
women must participate as a Half of the Society
We can't fight with one hand...
nor walk on one foot.
In the countryside, women were like animals
they served only for reproduction purposes.
In cities, it was worst...
because women were were cloistered...
The husband would say:
Don't leave the house,
cook and take care of the children.
A woman fights until death.
Our barometer? The liberation of women.
Liberate women!
A revolution can not exist
with only men.
Women have joined the Front's organisations,
they  go to the Revolution's Camp...
to elevate their political consciousness
and participate to all the responsibilities of the armed struggle.
Women have the same capacities
as men
and can perform the same tasks.
The People is armed!
These armed conscious masses...
are the Bronze bulwarks
of the Revolution
A battalion of the People's Liberation Army,
before its entrance in Haglit's center,
says that the enemy has evacuated after months of encirclement.
Haglit is tactical as it is on the Red Road
that connects Salala to Mascat.
FIrearms have been used
to ensure the evacuation of the center.
Once the scouts are back, the battalion will search the area.
The P.L.A is formed of volunteers.
No grade, no salary,
a lot of discipline.
"No matter their strength,
Kabous and the British thugs
will be inevitably defeated."
The remains of the enemy in the empty base:
hundreds of barrels for planes...
and entrenchments for mercenaries.
"Haglit (called Halout by the enemy)
was important for two reasons:
it connected Salala to the rest of Oman...
and controlled the north of the Red Road.
From there, mercenaries launched
raids against civilians.
Thanks to the People's Liberation Army,
the enemy ran away.
Today, the P.L.A occupies
and searches the center."
The Front has found this identity card...
of a Baloch mercenary
an English code
and a mercenary letter
describing the conditions of evacuation...
that a soldier is reading here:
"The enemy bombs 24 hours a day...
and we are doing the same...
I am waiting for a quick response."
signed Saïd Ali Mobarak El Saïdi
number 7706 - Halout Center
Adress: First Battalion, Radio Section
Other centers have fallen in the hands of the Front.
The enemy's Center was here.
Last year, the P.L.A circled the Center
for six months
and forced the enemy to flee.
Here was the military airfield
to transport the wounded and dead
when the P.L.A  crossed the Red Road.
After four years of fierce struggle,
the Front finally controlled the Red Road.
This shepherdess recounts her joy.
When the mercenaries were here,
we couldn't move,
because they were killing us all.
Long live the Revolution...
Bless these Freedom fighters.
No more mercenaries, no more planes.
The P.L.A, to serve the People.
The Liberation's Army fights with one hand...
and builds with the other one.
Before, this water source
was twice smaller.
SInce the Revolution started controlling the region...
people organised to expand the water source.
Look how the A.P.L, the Popular Militia
and the People are helping each other.
to better manage this water source.
The Revolution has ended the killings...
and tribal vendettas...
caused by the lack of water.
People are thrilled that the land...
and water are distributed to them.
Before, we could drink
only our own tribe's water.
Now, everyone can drink everywhere...
and grow everywhere.
Now that the lands and water are no longer
under tribes control, but a property of the People...
Permanent agriculture has become the Front's task.
We are in times of war...
we must rely on ourselves.
In the past, we had reasons
to be nomads;
It was tribal divisions
fostered by Imperialism.
Once we have our economic base
we will no longer suffer...
from the occupiers' economic blockade.
And as first steps,
The Front created the first Pilot Farm in 1971
to instruct agricultural commissioners
This is the first water pump of the free zone.
"I come from the P.L.A, we were put here
to introduce us to agriculture...
and enhance the country.
"I come from the School,
we learned things about clouds,
mineral salts, ploughing, seeds.
We planted radish, tomatoes, onions
squash, watermelons.
When we become qualified
we will spread in the free zone
to serve the people.
This is the voice of freedom...
We must fight on the military front.
Everyone repeats this chorus,
because we know that social achievements
relies on military victories.
Thakbit's base, in the West zone...
is under attack by the P.L.A
who destroyed all the installations.
The People are stronger than modern artillery.
The People's determination has exposed
the myths of technological superiority.
Peace and progress are always more powerful
than the forces of reaction
and obscurantism.
Citizens have played this scene
to explain how magical practices
replaced medicine before the Liberation.
Drugs were forbidden by the Sultan.
In spite of the Front's weak financial resources,
things have well evolved.
These tents form the first
Sanitary Center created by the Front
The medical state is critical...
because of the war of aggression.
"Diseases are widespread.
Especially tuberculosis, malaria, dysentery, trachoma.
No doctors, but six first aid workers from the P.L.A.
They do their best in cities...
and rural areas.
But medicines are sorely lacking.
We hope that friends of the Revolution...
will send some...
and that Arab doctors
will do their duty.
This man with trachoma has walked...
400 km in a country with no roads.
When he came to the Sanitary Center, it was too late.
"The British have occupied this country for more than a hundred years
and have built no roads
only one military road was built in the middle of the country,
forbidden to the civilians.
The Revolution has made this road...
It is the first one, and it belongs to everyone.
It was not constructed with machines...
but with the bare hands of our militants.
"The project of the Front's road...
was executed by close to 35 fighters ...
of the P.L.A, the Popular Militia...
and by citizens.
Crucial project in an under-developed country...
that suffers from the economic blockade.
Citizens have a hard time getting food...
for their children.
This is the most important projects of the Front.
These children have crossed 500 km barefoot...
braving British napalm...
to go to one of the Front's schools.
It is the first generation
who is learning to read and write.
Here is the school, founded by the Front in 1970.
400 children, and the number increases.
The teachers: three soldiers from the P.L.A.
Lesson of Mathematics
Teaching the alphabet.
English lesson.
Children take care of themselves...
and do everything themselves.
Their principle- count on oneself...
and link theory to practice.
Here starts the education...
of the new man (and woman).
The community life,
team spirit, and the love of the People
replace selfishness and tribal values.
The school is divided in teams...
who rotate between works.
Every team is made of girls and boys...
of different ages, classes and regions.
This helps to remove the tribal spirit...
and accelerate the introduction of the youngest.
Despite all the hardships, results are outstanding,
especially because children understand
the importance of knowledge for their people.
Deprived of education not long ago, they are now hungry for learning.
In the name of Revolution...
we are opening the session.
A daily team meeting.
Some comrades...
have slept without a tent yesterday.
Let the Student Committee...
build new tents, for it is raining.
What do you think of this proposal?
Why do you not agree?
We can't set up tents on a wet soil.
We have to set up tents so that
our comrades do not sleep under the rain.
I agree,
and this is the majority's opinion.
I criticizes the Student Comittee...
and all the school because the kitchen is dirty.
We must move it over there...
so that trash is thrown into the valley.
The tap is broken.
If we move the kitchen without fixing it...
we will have an additional chore.
Let's wait that the Students Committee fix it.
I do my own self-critic.
Yesterday after the protest, I did not study.
Yes, but yesterday...
The Teachers Committee has allowe us to sleep
because we were tired...
and had work to do the next day.
In the name of Revolution, this session is ended.
Teams representatives unite...
with the Teachers Committee.
Yesterday, during the meeting, the team
suggested to set up tents...
because some of the comrades...
were sleeping under the rain.
You were right, the Revolution's celebration...
took us by surprise.
We already set up two tents...
and we will set up more.
The Teachers Committee no longer holds meetings.
That's true.
The Teachers Committee was busy...
trying to move the school to a safer place,
but we will take care of this soon.
Programs also include
national education,
history and geography.
To commemorate an insurrection,
in the Gulf.
This geography lesson is being played.
Every child is a region of the Arabian Gulf.
I am Qatar, I am rich with oil...
but my people is exploited.
The occupiers have stolen 80000km2 to Oman
that they have divided in small states:
Abu Dhabi, Dubaï, Sharjah, Fougeira,
Om el Qawayn, Ojman.
I refuse these names, they are not from my people.
I am Oman,
2.5 million inhabitants.
In my land, revolutionaries
led by the Front.
In my land, Kabous' mercenaries are running away.
 Children are learning first-aid work...
to ensure the health of school pupils...
and treat people in case of bombing
as it was the case recently.
I protect my comrades from the counter-revolution.
Ideology guides the rifle. 
What is the driving force of the Revolution?
It is the poor masses.
The ideology must guide the rifle.
The revolutionary knows...
how, why and for whom he is fighting.
Tribalism, feudalism,
How do we solve this?
Is it by spontaneous violence? No.
It is by organised revolutionary violence.
This is the capital, Salala,
protected by three British bases.
The enemy's planes arrive...
Portrait of the President of the  Democratic Yemen
June, 9th,
the Revolution's anniversary,
The Second Congress, with its decisions,
has armed the masses with rifles...
and a clear political agenda...
allowing them to fight...
against the under-development.
The working class of the Democratic Yemen...
salutes our comrades from the Army...
and the Popular Militia
and the revolutionary masses from the Arabian Gulf...
guided by the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Oman and the Arabian Gulf.
The support for the Revolution...
in the Gulf has extended to the Arab World and G.B.
Committees are multiplying
and organising actions of solidarity.
Their first congress...
took place in Aden, in 1972.
The Palestinian revolution...
has shown its support as a sign of unity...
of the Arab Revolution
against imperialism and Zionism.
The Vietnamese people has affirmed
its support to the People of the Gulf.
This delegation from the Vietnamese N.L.F
has visited the free zone...
proclaiming the unity of oppressed.
The hour of liberation has arrived...
the Revolution broke out in Dhofar.
It will spread in Oman...
and in all the Arabian Gulf.
The end.
