Re: Do you condemn Hamas?

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 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 when the groups waging liberatory struggle> align with the values of our ideologies and fraternal parties. It is a> question that acts as a trap and misses the point entirely.> > We cannot make the mistake of engaging seriously with such an> obfuscation. It is on us, especially those of us on the Left, to> understand that the core driver of the violence we are seeing is and> always has been Zionist settler colonialism. This cycle of violence is> perpetuated not by the colonized, as they seek to liberate themselves> from the state of total subjugation and brutal reality of genocidal> liquidation, but by the Zionist project and those advancing its> interests.> > The question we have to ask ourselves, and indeed answer, is not> whether we condemn Hamas, but whether we condemn a settler colonial> regime that makes armed struggle necessary for survival.> > https://mondoweiss.net/2024/06/do-you-condemn-hamas/> > > But when "armed struggle" devolves into the widespread raping of women and hostages, the assault and murder of infants, and on and on and on...it's impossible to have any sympathy for the usually masked bunch of non-uniformed thugs doing it. These same thugs have send thousands and thousands of rockets onto Israeli soil, not to mention causing dozens of suicide bombers to blow up buses usually full of non-combatants such as women and children. So, now that Israel had said, in effect, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, I fully support Israel's ongoing Gaza initiative and condemn fully ANY nation or group NOT supporting IsraelWHen my ancestors came to Canada in the 1800s, they left the "Old Country" behind, never to return. I wish some other ethnic groups would do the same...leave the squabbles BEHIND and stop waving the old flags over here.

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Israel (Jews) have STOLEN the land. They colonized Palestine over the course of past century expelling the natives.
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Israel is a more modern creation but no different than e.g. USA. It's a situation in which bunch of people moved into someone else's homeland and claiming it for their own.
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But that's not all, in fact it's only a portion of the entire problem. You see, after stealing most of Palestine from the natives (Christians and Moslems) the world actually acknowledged the Jewish theft and seizures and legalized it, recognizing their colonial state, the Israel.
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But the world also said, the non-colonized part of Palestine should be free too.
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World = UN.
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But the sneaky Jews have occupied the remaining part of Palestine jn 1967 and have been holding people there under military occupation, continuing to build Jewish settlements in lands that do not legally belong to Israel, thus committing ethnic cleansing and crimes and abusing the Moslems and Christians.
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Why don't they just fuck off back to their stolen piece of Palestine ie Israel?
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Why are they occupying someone else's land for more than 57 years?
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You know what's occupation? Germans were occupied in 1945-1949 they had no rights in that period. It's a severe punishment.
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Ask them (the Jews) what is it that they even want, what is their end goal and you'll realize they're not interested in peace but conquest.

  Your parents should demand a refund of all the school taxes they have ever paid for you. Obviously, you failed to learn ANYTHING.