> On Dec 3, 2024, at 7:52 PM, Alex Dillard via groups.io
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Look for my article titled “why communists should support Hamas”
>
> https://redstarpublishers.org/ClassStruggle/Vol1/Vol1.pdf
Thanks for posting this, Alex. I think discussion on goals, strategy and
tactics are critical to the recovery of the left. I think your article is
wrong, however, and I want to respectfully disagree.
It's true as you wrote that the historical position of the revolutionary left
"has been condemnation of Zionism and the Zionist entity and unconditional
support for the Pal-estinian resistance." That we can agree on. But why do we
need to support Hamas and what does that mean? Should socialists call for an
Islamic Republic? Should we form an elite fighting force that will fight in
place of the people?
I am trying to keep my critique short, but I think the article is confused
about working-class democracy: "Hamas is seen as a legitimate representative of
the Palestinian people and the liberation struggle ever since the liquidation
of the PLO [?] after the Oslo Accords and the failure of the old school Fatah
to provide any real path to Palestinian freedom. When Hamas got elected in Gaza
in 2006, it is because the Palestinian people wanted a force that could
continue to fight for them." Revolutionary socialists want to organize people
to fight for themselves. That's the crux of our disagreement. Hamas did not
hold another election for 18 years but built an army to carry on the struggle
over the heads of the people.
Our responsibility in the US is to end US support for Israel and not tail-end a
leadership that is quite foreign to our tradition, and that is today all but
defeated. Ending US support for Israel will take a massive movement of people
who agree on very little, at least initially. We know from past experience and
history that grabbing someone by the collar and lecturing them is ineffective
in raising consciousness. It is movement participation that shapes peoples'
consciousness, getting working people engaged and caring about the struggle,
even if that struggle is a single issue "no arms to Israel."
Yahya Sinwar's Hamas should be remembered by how well they prepared and
organized the Palestinian people for future struggle. Gaza today stands as an
example not just of Israeli barbarity but also how NOT to fight it. Either
way, Hamas is irrelevant to our task in the US to end US genocide in the
Occupied Territories. Our strategy in the US should be to support for
Palestinian struggle regardless of their leadership.
Mark
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