In response to my: "Israeli officials and apologists were quick to claim that Hamas had ordered atrocities. To the extent that those claims are still circulating I think it is advisable that we are equipped to refute them."
Mark wrote: "Why? To me, it just amplifies whatever lie they make up and recycles it. Would we support the Palestinian right to determination any less if it were true? We don't make it conditional on the strategy and tactics of the leadership that they choose or the leadership that has been curated for them." Because we aren't trying to convince Palestinians about their leadership, we're talking to workmates, people down the pub, people who engage with us at a Palestine solidarity action. They are likely to have heard these allegations. They are likely to have heard that Palestinians are, therefore, "human animals". If our response to "But Hamas ordered mass rape" is, "Oh, I don't know about that. Does it matter?" we're not likely to win anyone over. If we csn say as little as, "There is no evidence for that beyond the unsubstantiated allegations of Israeli officials", we have an opening. You are right that *our* support for the Palestinian struggle is not conditional on the nature of the orders Hamas did or did not issue to its fighters. But those people we engage with are not at that point yet. they have been bombarded with decades of uncritical Zionist propaganda. Ignoring the impact of that propaganda leaves us weaker in our work. Comradely, John On Sat, Mar 23, 2024 at 5:30 PM Mark Baugher <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On Mar 22, 2024, at 8:10 PM, John Edmundson <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Israeli officials and apologists were quick to claim that Hamas had > ordered atrocities. To the extent that those claims are still circulating I > think it is advisable that we are equipped to refute them. > > Why? To me, it just amplifies whatever lie they make up and recycles it. > Would we support the Palestinian right to determination any less if it were > true? We don't make it conditional on the strategy and tactics of the > leadership that they choose or the leadership that has been curated for > them. > > Mark > > > > > -- "All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks." Sarah Moore Grimke, abolitionist (1792-1873) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29633): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29633 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/105060244/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
