Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: =?UTF-8?Q?Pelle_Svansl=C3=B6s?= Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis,rec.arts.tv,uk.comp.sys.mac,edm.general,sci.electronics.design Subject: Re: Do you condemn Hamas? Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2024 20:21:45 +0300 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 257 Message-ID: References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Fri, 07 Jun 2024 19:21:46 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="6c7a94d2ddc0acf39ec6fb99610ae862"; logging-data="2272918"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18B6ZJA9ku/7dk8zB+DGioECm/P+PKsZfE=" User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Cancel-Lock: sha1:XUm6StP/X7iNECFJj3iaXVQaJAs= In-Reply-To: Content-Language: en-US Bytes: 17689 On 7.6.2024 5.21, Sharx335 wrote: > On 2024-06-06 6:18 p.m., *skriptis wrote: >> Sharx335 Wrote in message:r >>> On 2024-06-06 3:27 p.m., NefeshBarYochai wrote:> This question became >>> seemingly ubiquitous following October 7. As> Palestinians defied the >>> imagination, breaking out of Gaza after over a> decade and a half of >>> living under total air, land, and sea blockade,> many found >>> themselves having to face this question.> > Whether it be from >>> Zionists using the violence we witnessed on that> day as a means of >>> creating story after story of atrocity propaganda —> to force >>> well-meaning allies into a corner or even those who genuinely> >>> considered themselves pro-Palestine who struggled with the reality >>> of> decolonial violence — the question of whether or not Palestinian >>> armed> resistance factions deserved support or criticism became a >>> major point> of contention. It was easy for many to support the cause >>> of> Palestinian liberation when they viewed Palestinians as perfect> >>> victims, but when Palestinians fought back, suddenly the question of> >>> solidarity became muddled.> > Months later, after tens of thousands >>> of Palestinians have been> murdered by Israeli Occupation Forces in >>> Gaza amid an ongoing> genocide, and after thousands in the West Bank >>> have found themselves> imprisoned or under regular attack, sympathy >>> for those resisting their> own annihilation has grown, with the >>> conversation becoming more clear> than it was in the days proceeding >>> October 7. As videos spread by> resistance factions across Gaza and >>> Lebanon find a regular and> enthusiastic audience and chants in >>> support of those putting their> lives on the line take root in >>> protests nationwide, it is clear many> have grown to accept the >>> necessity of armed struggle in the> Palestinian context, though a >>> true consensus has yet to be achieved.> > To that end, the answer to >>> the question “Do you condemn Hamas?,”> particularly for those of us >>> on the Left as we analyze the history of> Palestine and why >>> resistance occurs in a colonial context, should have> always been >>> clear.> > A violent phenomenon> > As Frantz Fanon’s oft-cited >>> statement from Wretched of the Earth has> made clear, national >>> liberation, national reawakening, restoration of> the nation to the >>> Commonwealth, whatever the name used, whatever the> latest expression >>> — decolonization is always a violent event.> Palestine is not an >>> exception to this reality.> > The colonization of Palestine by >>> Zionists, like all colonialism> throughout history, brought with it >>> widespread and constant violence> levied in all forms against the >>> Palestinian people. This was by> design, as the very nature of >>> settler colonialism is a necessarily> brutal one given the end goal >>> of the wholesale elimination of the> Indigenous population in all >>> forms but nostalgia. This violence does> not simply manifest itself >>> through the military campaigns waged by> Zionist settlers and the >>> Israeli occupation army, but through every> part of the colonial >>> endeavor itself — an endeavor that can only be> sustained through the >>> suffering, exploitation, repression, and death> of Palestinians and >>> all else that the colony wishes to conquer.> > Palestinians, whether >>> in Occupied Palestine, in refugee camps in> bordering nations, or in >>> the diaspora around the world, are forced> every single day to >>> wrestle with the reality of this settler colonial> violence. The very >>> existence of the Zionist project poses an> existential threat to the >>> lives of millions, who have in some cruel> twist of reality been >>> deemed existential threats by the project for> the simple reason that >>> their existence undermines its legitimacy.> > This violence does not >>> occur without resistance. Throughout history,> whether it be in >>> Algeria, South Africa, Ireland, or Palestine,> colonized people have >>> risen up in the face of brutal violence to free> themselves from the >>> shackles of their own oppression. This resistance> does not generally >>> start as armed struggle, but through civil> disobedience, protests, >>> general strikes, and similar tactics. Yet when> these tactics fail, >>> as they often have, or when exceptional violence> is waged against >>> the people in response, armed struggle becomes a> necessity.> > The >>> colonial power, its legitimacy owed solely to the force it> >>> undertakes to maintain its existence, creates the conditions for the> >>> resistance that will rise against it. The more violence and >>> repression> colonized people face, the more they resist. Violent >>> resistance> becomes mainstream out of sheer necessity given their >>> material> conditions. This creates a cycle of violence, one >>> perpetuated first> and foremost by the violence of the colonial >>> entity itself.> > Even before the official foundation of the Zionist >>> project in 1948,> this cycle was well established. The Balfour >>> Declaration came into> existence in 1917, signifying Britain’s >>> official endorsement of> Zionist aspirations. By 1929, a fifth of >>> Palestinians found themselves> landless. By the 1930s, many >>> Palestinians found themselves unemployed> and economically destitute, >>> as Zionist capital, backed by favorable> imperial British laws and >>> treatment, began flowing ever more> intensively into Palestine, >>> according to Ghassan Kanafani’s seminal> work on the 1936 Great >>> Palestinian Revolt.> > These factors spurred resistance of their own >>> variety, including the> Buraq Uprising of 1929, efforts by >>> Palestinians to pool resources to> purchase land, sporadic violence, >>> as well as Palestinian notables> lobbying for better treatment from >>> their British overlords. This blend> of violent and non-violent >>> efforts would all be suppressed or> ultimately met with limited >>> success.> > In 1936, when British forces murdered Syrian >>> revolutionary figure> Shaykh ‘Izz al-Din al-Qassam, Palestinian >>> popular resentment turned> into a general strike, and ultimately into >>> popular revolt, which was> put down brutally by Zionist and British >>> forces by 1939. Only a few> years later, Zionists would ethnically >>> cleanse more than 750,000> Palestinians from upwards of 530 cities, >>> towns, and villages and kill> thousands more in what Palestinians >>> refer to as the Nakba, or the> “catastrophe”. These ethnic cleansing >>> campaigns continue up to the> modern day.> > Palestinians would rise >>> up as a result of the subjugation they faced,> again through a >>> combination of violent and non-violent struggle that> would be met >>> with even more violent oppression. When Palestinians> waged >>> cross-border raids into occupied territory, they were met with a> >>> Zionist invasion in Lebanon and massacres at Sabra and Shatila. When> >>> Palestinians rose up during the First and Second Intifadas, they >>> were> met with violent crackdowns, mass arrests, and widespread >>> violence> that would lead to the intensification of their own violent >>> resistance> efforts. When Palestinians in Gaza took to marching to >>> the wall that> surrounded them in the March of Great Return, hundreds >>> were killed and> thousands more injured by Israeli soldiers. The >>> cycle of violence> continued and intensified.> > Fast forwarding to >>> today, Palestinians continue to live in bantustans> in the West Bank, >>> and what could functionally be described as a> concentration camp in >>> Gaza, with Palestinians in the 1948 and 1967> territories living >>> under brutal apartheid management structures. They> have resisted >>> every step of the way, each time seeing thousands> imprisoned, >>> murdered, displaced, and millions utterly subjugated and> exploited >>> as the Zionist project continues toward the ultimate goal of> >>> eliminating them in all forms but nostalgia.> > When armed struggle >>> becomes material necessity> > In the face of all of this violence, >>> armed resistance organizations> have risen up and established >>> themselves amongst the people, whether> they be Fatah, the PFLP, the >>> DFLP, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas,> or others. These groups, and >>> the violence they employ, did not come to> exist in a vacuum. Rather, >>> they are the result of decades of brutal> colonial violence, and the >>> culmination of Palestinian efforts to> liberate themselves from it.> >>> > The tactics they employ on the ground are the culmination of this >>> same> struggle. These groups chose to undergo operations they >>> determined may> advance their liberatory struggle. Many outside of >>> Palestine, and even> Palestinians themselves, may have disagreements >>> with these tactics, or> on a grander scale, disagreements with the >>> core principles and> ideologies of one or several of the groups >>> deploying them. For those> of us in the Western Left, however, >>> removed from the reality of> on-the-ground struggle, this cannot mean >>> that we undermine the very> legitimacy of armed struggle itself.> > >>> Hamas is a key example of this. Like them or not, the efforts they> >>> have waged and continue to wage have made more of a material impact> >>> toward the liberation of Palestine than anything any of us in the >>> West> will ever make. They are taking on the brutal violence of >>> colonial> power and waging a campaign of armed struggle that has, at >>> the current> moment, with coordination with other resistance >>> factions, made the> Zionist colony more of a pariah than it has ever >>> been on a global> stage and shattered the image of military >>> invincibility and overall> stability it has spent decades >>> cultivating. Countless years of> struggle have culminated in this >>> flashpoint.> > The path forward, as history has repeatedly shown, >>> will be largely> forged through the armed struggle of resistance >>> factions on the> ground. Their very survival depends on it, and it >>> continues to> challenge and erode the power of the Zionist entity >>> itself.> > Palestinian armed resistance has forced the Zionist >>> project to wage an> increasingly violent campaign that is sharpening >>> contradictions in> such a way as to lead to its continued unraveling. >>> As the masses in> the imperial core, specifically those of the United >>> States, come to> realize that their interests are at odds with the >>> interests of the> Zionist project and their government leaders who >>> are sustaining the> project’s ongoing genocide, the traditional >>> support base the project> relies on has eroded. In its place is an >>> ever-increasing mass standing> in firm support of Palestinians, >>> rather than their colonizers.> > In Palestine, the Palestinian >>> struggle for liberation has developed> what can be called a “Popular >>> Cradle” of resistance — a state of unity> and cohesion that has >>> developed between the Palestinian armed> resistance and broader >>> Palestinian society. That “popular cradle,” as> the Palestinian Youth >>> Movement has so aptly described it, has worked> as an organ of the >>> liberation struggle by conceptualizing resistance> as both a normal >>> and necessary state of being. This has led to a> reality where the >>> resistance is sustained by the masses themselves,> who support them >>> and readily accept the consequences of their> continued fight for >>> liberation.> > That armed struggle, a material necessity, is reaping >>> material> results, even in spite of mass violence, crackdowns, and a >>> campaign of> outright genocide. In Gaza specifically, that very >>> struggle in no> small part led to the withdrawal of Zionist settlers >>> from the> territory which forced Zionist planners to rework how they >>> went about> their occupation of Gaza. The struggle has kept Israeli >>> Occupation> Forces from entering Jenin and other refugee camps across >>> historic> Palestine without serious consequence. In many ways, the >>> resistance> struggle has been a key element of continued Palestinian >>> survival.> > Moving past the question> > The question of whether we >>> condemn Hamas is more than just a question> of condemnation. At its >>> core, we are being asked to disavow decolonial> violence altogether — >>> to support Palestinians only when they are> perfect victims or only ========== REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TRUNCATED ==========