Path: ...!Xl.tags.giganews.com!local-2.nntp.ord.giganews.com!news.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 07 Jun 2024 14:26:09 +0000 Subject: Re: Do you condemn Hamas? Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis,rec.arts.tv,uk.comp.sys.mac,edm.general,sci.electronics.design References: From: % Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2024 07:26:08 -0700 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:91.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/91.0 SeaMonkey/2.53.18.2 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Antivirus: AVG (VPS 240607-4, 2024-6-7), Outbound message X-Antivirus-Status: Clean Message-ID: Lines: 260 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com X-Trace: sv3-RxfOTjNlz44JbCcMXI5pzWAdN3EfjWWp3lJiGOWUZ+DgnZOJvOGxFl6/PeoMwWmxFuKzuPTXHTujLbl!ujaOOE00WiKmMDYUHjqo+IzVn6KgANMpgWJFWcwr93qPV41vi43khajJGvcle6xc5a19qwlx3uEX X-Complaints-To: abuse@giganews.com X-DMCA-Notifications: http://www.giganews.com/info/dmca.html X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40 Bytes: 18220 Idlehands wrote: > On 2024-06-06 8:21 p.m., 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 ========== REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TRUNCATED ==========