Q&A: On the origins of Hamas and the nature of Zionism

Oct 21, 2023

The worst crimes in the world are not committed by rule breakers. But someone who obeys orders. Those who obey orders will drop bombs and massacre villages. In order to prevent the commission of major evil deeds, it is our solemn duty to never obey orders. Only in this way can we ensure that nothing goes wrong - Banksy

Anyone who uses Hamas to justify the genocide of the Palestinian people would do well to understand the history of the organization and Israel's role in it.

After occupying Gaza (1967), Israel began to support radical Islamists. Its purpose was to split the Palestinian national liberation movement by weakening the largest political force in Palestine at the time - the left wing of the Fatah-led PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and the secular nationalists.

In 1978, with the support of the Israeli authorities, Imam Ahmed Yassin, the future spiritual leader of Hamas, established the Islamic Association, through which he funded a number of conservative Islamic institutions and organizations.

Those who gape today at the suggestion that Israel might support Islamist militants should remember that we are talking about a time when the US president hosted the Taliban in the Oval Office and called the jihadists "freedom fighters." With whom does the Taliban "fight for freedom"? It's the "Red Menace."

In an interview with the New York Times, former Israeli Army Brigadier General and Gaza Military Governor Yitzhak Segev bluntly admitted to transferring funds to Islamists on behalf of the State of Israel.

Col. David Hacham, who served as an adviser on Arab affairs to seven Israeli defense ministers, confirmed this support , stating clearly that no one thought at the time that if you gave money to Islamic militants, they would emerge from a group of marginalized people. People turn into bloody monsters.

Avner Cohen, an Israeli official who was in charge of religious relations in Gaza, tried to warn his superiors about the potential dangers of financing Islamist militants: "We have to break the back of this monster before it starts turning to bite us in the face." There was no response to these statements.

"Hamas was created by Israel, and I deeply regret that," Cohen said. Reagan's former Middle East adviser David Long agreed. "I thought Israel was playing with fire, but I didn't expect it would end up creating a monster."

Eventually, the Islamists proliferated, engulfing their opponents and killing more Israelis than any other political force in the Palestinian national liberation movement.

Current events in Israel are the result of its historical policies, and both ordinary Israelis and the long-suffering Palestinian people are paying the price.

To understand the situation in Israel, one must consider the role of Zionism in Israeli elite politics.

Contrary to popular misconception, Zionism is not synonymous with "Jewish national aspirations" and any criticism of Zionism does not amount to anti-Semitism .

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Zionism is not about “building” a state. It is about a "return" to a lost homeland, to a specific historical land centered on Jerusalem. Zionism thus fundamentally precludes any territorial and geographical compromise .

Zionism is actually a reactionary idea - the Jewish reaction to anti-Semitic acts (the Holocaust, persecution). A basic concept of Zionism is that of a victimized people scattered throughout the world who are considered "other" everywhere and are therefore oppressed. Zionists believe that the solution to this problem is for all Jews to "return" to their historical homeland and restore their kingdom to protect them.

In other words, Zionism is not about building a modern Western-style multicultural society, but about building a Jewish nationalist state based on "unity" (the centripetal force of militarism) that is riddled with trauma and attacks on anxiety and must always be in a state of combat readiness.

Given the geography of the country's construction, the result of the Zionist project was a conservative state run by right-wing militarists, in which the " other " was relegated to an apartheid inferior status, subjugated by the country's elite. Imprisoned in concentration camps , deprived of rights and land, subjected to discrimination , ethnic cleansing and genocide .

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A product of an era of ethno-nationalism, Zionism makes demands that make its project fundamentally uninclusive: yes, you can be gay here, you can be Orthodox, but only if you are Jewish.

What does "Jewish" mean?

Religious standards assume that a Jew is a follower of Judaism whose mother is Jewish.

Racial standards are premised on shared genetic, cultural and historical roots. There are many subgroups within the Jewish palette: Ashkenazi, Sephardim, Mizrahi, and many more.

Standards are based on identity and culture: understanding Jewish customs, holidays, traditions and language.

The nationality of "Jewish" (or more accurately, Israeli) emerged with the emergence of the State of Israel on the map. This is very important - opposition to official ideology does not mean opposition to the state of Israel itself.

While anarchists are fundamentally opposed to the nation-state , the most powerful hope for a solution to this current catastrophe will come from a righteous resistance within the State of Israel—a hope for change; an end to Zionism and an alternative within it The hope is that a new political project will not be limited to the outdated set of principles that call for dropping phosphorus bombs on Palestinian children.

There are many critics of Zionism not only among Jews but also among Jewish nationalists who criticize Israeli policies precisely because they want to see around them a modern, inclusive society rather than A modern religious-militarist nationalist state.

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Anyone familiar with history knows that the Jews have brought countless rebellious, creative, and paradoxical thinkers, artists, scientists, and politicians to the world. Without Jews, it would be impossible to imagine the counterculture, the sexual revolution, or the overthrow of the tsarist rule.

The status of the eternal other—the stung, the persecuted—made the Jew sensitive to everything that did not fall within the frame and resourceful in resisting restrictions. This is the DNA of revolutionaries.

Jews are eternal wanderers, able to move from one world to another, enriching any society with new ideas. Naturally, they should not be trapped by all the dogmas that come from a nationality.

An occupied people has only three options: resist, resist and resist.

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"What they were told was wrong. We have never had a problem with the Jews. The Jews have been part of the fabric of our society since before the founding of the state of Israel.

In fact, Jews fleeing persecution in Europe found refuge in Palestine. There is a Jewish community in Gaza. Until 1948, they and we lived in peace - not "with" the Arabs, but "as" the Arabs.

Rather than protecting the Jewish people, the establishment of the State of Israel created division and danger. The solution is to go back to the past and dismantle the colony.

What I want to say to the colonists who left their homes to occupy our land is: go home.

As for those who were born here, this is what I say to them: You are secondary victims of the colonial project. You are used to occupy other people's lands, and your Jewish identity is politicized and used as a means of colonization .

Think carefully about the examples of South Africa, Angola, Algeria - these examples may not fully apply to the Israeli settler colonial project, but they offer lessons for you.

Today you must make a choice: support this deadly racist colonial project or support the liberation of Palestine and the establishment of a democratic state that will liberate Palestinians and Jews together from Zionism .

The transition from Zionism to democracy will not cost anyone their lives; it will cost some people their colonial privileges, but it will free you and us, the main victims, from colonialism."

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As Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza enters its 11th day, communication between the besieged enclave and the outside world is quickly becoming impossible. The Washington Post reported on October 16: "Given the scale of the Israeli attack - which United Nations experts have warned amounts to 'collective punishment' in violation of international law - journalists are facing unprecedented challenges in obtaining and sharing information."

The three reports from Gaza collected here reflect these obstacles. The first article was written when Israel had just announced that it would cut off the water and electricity supply in the Gaza Strip. It was sent via email on October 9, with the note "in case I am unable to reply due to power outage or martyrdom." A week later written communication was no longer possible, and on October 16, the last two telegrams arrived via WhatsApp voice message.

The first report comes from Mohammed Zraiy, Gaza coordinator for the One Democratic State Initiative, a Palestinian group that advocates for a secular democratic state in Israel/Palestine. The latter two reports came from Khalil, a student, teacher and Palestinian return rights activist in Gaza, and Rania Hussein, a 51-year-old human rights worker in Gaza City.

As Khalil points out, this week's brutal bombing exceeds all past wars in degree, but not in kind: Gazans are angry at "our rights being denied, our own suffering blamed, the international community "Failure" has become a common occurrence. Amid these attacks, they are often asked to testify in the media about the horrors they experienced, but are rarely asked for their explanations of the events that shaped their lives, or are rarely treated with generosity when they explain their views treatment. This article hopes to let readers understand their different political visions through their personal accounts, thereby creating conditions for joint discussions about a just future.

Khalil said that by advocating for an end to occupation, an end to colonialism and genocide, he was calling for liberation — "not just the liberation of the colonized peoples, but also the liberation of the oppressors who were oppressed by the ideologies they used to control us." control". Asked what he would say to Israelis if given the chance, Zai also emphasized that his call for a state where Palestinians and Jews could live together in freedom and equality was a call for Jews to support “the integration of you and us— - The main victim of colonialism - Liberation from colonialism" line. This shared commitment to freedom, he wrote, was "the only path to peace."

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