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Subject: Re: Do you condemn Hamas?
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Idlehands wrote:
> On 2024-06-06 8:21 p.m., Sharx335 wrote:
>> On 2024-06-06 6:18 p.m., *skriptis wrote:
>>> Sharx335 <sharx35@telus.net> 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 
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