I would like to send my revolutionary greetings to the Palestinian comrades who have arrived on the shores of America to educate us and to continue uplifting our spirits. I would like to extend special greetings to the crew of Adameer and to the brothers and sisters of Sumoud who have brought this presentation to us. My name is Robert Seth Hayes. I'm a former member of the Black Panther Party and a captured and convicted soldier of the Black Liberation Army. I am one of New York State's many political prisoners. I understand that Adameer is now touring North America on its tour and education process to bring us awareness of the situation of political prisoners in Palestine. It's a beautiful opportunity for us to grow and learn and I'm very appreciative of it.

I have so much that I want to say, but caution overrules a lot of it. So please let me be a little cautious and a little careful so that our message will definitely get across.

To the people of Palestine, we commend you for your arduous struggle and your historical lessons-- you have taught us much. For the fact that under these trying and difficult circumstances you keep struggling year after year for the liberation of the land and of the people of Palestine, we commend you. We support your political prisoners, we recognize their need and their right and their responsibility to defend their homeland, state and people. We’ve watched what you have done and we've assessed it. Some things in your struggle are not the same as ours, so we’re not totally in sync with all of what you do and we’re not supposed to be. You have set the lines and the standards of your struggle of how your struggle will be recognized, and how you will promote it and extend it. We recognize your responsibilities to free yourselves and to honor those who have gone before you and those will come behind you. We as political prisoners have set such standards ourselves. We are answerable to the principal line of our struggle and the masses of people on this shore and in this hemisphere and that is what we choose to do.

As political prisoners we have suffered the same tortures and psychological attacks that you have as they try to not only break us down but to force us into denunciation of any resistance. The authorities hope to quell all dissent and resistance in our thoughts, feelings, aspirations and actions. We refuse. We stand firm, we stand strong and we have your historical example in Palestine as well as in America and in many different places around the world. We are all learning from each other from each other’s struggles, from each other's valor, from each other's determination, self reliance and growth and development.

And from all of us we cheer, and to all of you we embrace, and we say revolutionary commitment is a tool of love and we love to see you love your people as we love our people. Revolutionary solidarity to all of the people of Palestine in its quest and its historical determination to free itself and to free its land and to bring dignity and self-respect to itself and its people and make its mark in history so that we can truthfully say “never again”.