Understand Hamas - An Excellent Read!

 

Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters is an appropriate book to review on the first day of the current Ceasefire!  Helena Cobban and Rami Khouri’s questioning of five knowledgeable scholars of Gaza, “Islamic Politics” and more in 156 pages of text directly confronts many misnomers that (even) I had.   The perspectives are different from Tareq Baconi and Rashid Khalidi, and others who “know a lot”.


Remember the Israeli ambassador’s anger at the statement by UN Secretary General Guterres that Hamas’s violence did not come out of nowhere.   And so that completely undermined the Israeli narrative that this was just evil people doing evil things, rather than there’s a context to this violence. …

Among those practicing peace negotiations, it’s well established that the term “terrorism” hinders the possibility of negotiations.  For example, the Philippines government refused to label the Moro Islamic Liberation Front terrorist, even though there was a huge pressure from the U.S. to do so, because they recognized that the military solution was impossible and that it needed to negotiate.  (p.69)

It should be noted that the language of mainstream U.S. Media and Government leadership continually dismisses Hamas and elevates Israeli leadership and spokespeople related to this perspective of “terrorism”.   October 7, 2023’s attack is viewed in isolation, confirming the irrationality and evil of Hamas in the mainstream narrative.

But whether or not Hamas negotiates or is willing to compromise is very much influenced by the political opportunity and threat structure that prevails at the time.

So in the late 2000’s, for example Hamas leaders engaged with Swiss negotiators and toned down their rhetoric, took some of the anti-Semitic references from their website, and dropped a decision to impose the hijab, the headscarf, in court, all through these negotiations. …  If you fast forward, the rise of  hardliners within Hamas over the last five years is in part because of the failure of these negotiations and the refusal of successive Israeli governments and Western governments to respond to Hamas’s political overtures and engage it. (p.73)

Dr. Azzam Tamini stated:

Now, if you ask me personally, I think it is highly unlikely that we will ever reach the situation in which there are two states, one called Palestine and one called Israel.  And that is not because of the Palestinians.   It’s because of the Zionists, because of the way the Zionist project itself is developing.

Now, you have people in charge in Israel who believe they have a license from God to burn Gaza, not once, not twice, but three times, four times if necessary.   And they believe they’re doing something fantastic, something good.  They don’t believe Palestinians have a right to exist anywhere, although at least a segment of the Palestinians have agreed to recognize Isarel’s right to exist.   There has been no real reciprocation.  (p.143)

When they went to Nelson Mandela in his Robben Island cell and said to him, come on Nelson, we need to put an end to this mayhem, to this violence etc.   He said, very easy, no more Apartheid and we can live in peace.

And we in Palestine say the same thing: no more Zionism and we can live in peace.   We’re not going to send any Jew anywhere in the world, they can remain.  We don’t have a problem with them as Jews, but we have a problem with them as people who believe that they have God-given rights to discriminate against us.  That’s the problem.  (p.146)

I’ll tell you how we can know whether it is serious or not.   If the Zionists come tomorrow to us and say just like the white minority in South Africa said to the Black majority: Palestinians, we are sorry for what we did to you.  It was wrong.   We invaded your land, we occupied your land, we dispossessed you.   But now we want to start a new page, a new chapter.  We want to live together.   Would you agree?   I’d say, of course, we agree.  Let’s sit down and talk.

But they need to recognize the principle.   So long as the Zionists don’t recognize that the Palestinians have been their victims, you can not negotiate anything.  What is there to negotiate? (p.154)

Clearly the Ceasefire that began today, in no way faintly resembles or faintly relates to what Dr. Tamini has said is necessary.   The Ceasefire relates to the failure of the Israeli military to destroy Hamas.   Perhaps, it recognizes this impossibility?

Those interviewed in this book clearly show the Resistance Movement that exists and will continue to move forward, until a Just Peace is achieved.    It is quite clear, that this “peace” will only last as long as it benefits the Israeli leadership and does not hurt the Palestinian People so much, that they will violently resist the continued occupation.

I’m not optimistic, though the current (possible) respite is definitely important – and positive!

I highly recommend reading this book!   It is readable, not long, and helped me, as it helps others, understand Hamas and the Palestinian cause much better.   It humanizes Hamas.   It, in no way, makes it seem “heroic”.   Clearly, those unalterably Zionist – won’t have their minds changed, but for most others, it can, and hopefully will help.



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