And you know who I also don’t condemn?
The IRA
The Viet Minh
John Brown
Haitian slaves who revolted
Native American fighters
Black Panthers
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
Nelson Mandela
The 26th of July Movement
Every one of them were called “terrorists” or something equivalent at some point. Now think about who’s on the opposite of this list. Apartied South Africa, slavers, settlers, Zionists, the US government… There is only one moral and just side to be on and it’s not even a discussion.
I see where you’re going but I actually really don’t see HAMAS as a legit liberation movement, what they do is terrorism and I don’t know anything anymore. and I think it doesn’t matter.
protest nonviolent = be called a terrorist, continue living under apartheid , get murdered, tortured, terrorized and abused daily.
protest violent = be called a terrorist and continue living under apartheid and being murdered , tortured, terrorized and abused daily.
protest with terrorist tactics = be called a terrorist, face genocide.
this whole mess fucks me up so much, I don’t know how to live anymore. I know terrible things happen all the time and the world looks away, but this time it is different. I lost my will lo live on this planet. what is to be gained to be on the ‘correct side’, when humanity as a whole is failing and failing and failing again.
edit; hey, thanks for the replies, i’m sorry, i lack the energy to respond; as i said, i dont know anything and think it’s all irrelevant.
FYI, it makes a lot more sense to ditch the “terrorism” framing. Paraphrasing a news mega poster, the jet plane pilot bombing civilians is never called a terrorist, it’s a definition exclusively used against insurgent resistance.
Are Hamas a militant Islamic fundamentalist group? Now that’s true, and that’s worth having reservations about personally endorsing. However, at this point in time, the united front of Palestinian resistance is unified in support of armed struggle against occupation (a tactic that is, incidentally, legal under international law), and Hamas is part of that front.
Nobody is required to endorse all tactics and ideologies found within the Palestinian resistance. A way to frame it that may bring you peace is that the only way to gain ultimate freedom for their people is with violence. As you yourself recognize, the path of negotiation (Oslo) and peaceful protests (the Marches of Return) have only led to further encroachment and oppression.
So while it is tough to see innocents caught in the crossfire, there’s no such thing as halfway liberation. There is only the boot on the neck of the Palestinians, until there is enough combined force to lift it off
Mate I can see you’re genuinely working through this, so I’ll just say a couple things:
It’s not like Palestine can put together a formal army, then meet the IOF on the field of battle in formation, following the Queensbury rules or whatever. They are staring down genocide. To me, everything is fair game. Civilians dying is tragic, absolutely. But the blame there is on Israel, not Hamas.
Hamas isn’t perfect - I don’t care for the more hardline religious aspects ofc - but right now they are the only ones in Gaza who can mobilize an armed resistance. That’s why the PFLP and DFLP (who I definitely support) also support Hamas. Same thinking as to why Mao allied with his enemies the KMT when Japan invaded. Gotta make some uncomfortable alliances. Hang together or hang separately.
Stick around Hexbear and I think you’ll see how we work through these issues too.
Things are tough right now, no doubt. But I like something Felix tweeted recently (@byyourlogic on twitter):
Palestinians have resolve and grace the likes of which you and I have never had to tap into. don’t just stew in despair, because they haven’t done that in these 75 years.—
yeah better to just let them get trampled hey.
The Palestinian resistance is alive and well. You and your support for them ought to be too.
but how? posting memes and arguing online is no help. what do do? seriously, I would be ready to volunteer as a human shield at this point.
What do you mean by “human shield”? Are you seriously buying into the western media’s spin doctoring of Palestinian children killed in airstrikes deliberately targeting civilians as “human shields”?
Volunteer at your local pro Palestine org, donate to Palestine relief foundations, boycott Israeli products, join Pro Palestine protests that are occuring around you. Anything but being a whiny smartass liberal in response to pro Palestine sentiment.
