Member-only story
Why I Refuse to Condemn Hamas
We have been programmed to think of Hamas as “terrorists”, but that is just Israeli propaganda. The reality is much more interesting — and powerful.
Many reporters, commentators and journalists have a standard question that they put to any pro-Palestinian person they interview: “do you condemn Hamas?”
I refuse to condemn Hamas for several reasons.
Firstly, I believe we have once more been “brainwashed” by decades of Israeli hasbara (propaganda) into misunderstanding the mission, purpose, nature — and even the very NAME of the organisation known as Hamas. This extensive and relentless propaganda campaign has allowed Israel to thwart the peace process and increase the brutal subjugation of the Palestinian people.
Secondly, because we have been programmed to think of Hamas as an “islamic fundamentalist” global terrorist group, we fail to see that they are actually the popular resistance force of an occupied people with a legal right to resist their occupation — an occupation which is itself illegal.
This conflation of Hamas with ISIS and Al-Qaeda has served to “bind” the US and the collective West to Israel’s illegal occupation and to justify their brutal genocide in Gaza.
Thirdly, the Hamas Charter of 2017 is a reasoned — and reasonable — document based on an accurate reading of history as well as the current state of affairs, and sets out legitimate and legal goals and demands.
Finally, the raid that Hamas conducted on October 7 was a military mission with specific mission objectives and strategies. It was not a blind act of “terrorism” as has been asserted by Israeli authorities and their minions in the media. Moreover, it was a successful mission both militarily and strategically.
Moreover, the use of such “asymmetric” warfare by resistance groups, is a morally and legally legitimate way for an occupied people to achieve a specific strategic goal against a much greater occupying power.
