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Hamas Terrorists Labeled ‘Resistance’ in Odious Op-ed Published in ‘The Observer’
Teenage hostages before Oct. 7 and after their capture by Hamas to Gaza. Photo: Screenshot from Israeli government X/Twitter account
A recent opinion piece published in The Guardian’s sister Sunday newspaper, The Observer, warned that Israel’s battle to rout Hamas risks not only “perpetuating the cycle of violence but spreading it wider.”
Written by Ahmad Samih Khalidi, a writer and former Palestinian negotiator under Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, the op-ed is headlined: “Israel’s plans for Gaza’s future will only keep the flame of Hamas resistance burning.”
If it sounds like Khalidi is lionizing Hamas, it’s because he is.
Make no mistake, using phrasing like the “flame of Hamas resistance” in the context of an internationally proscribed terrorist group that raped and massacred countless unarmed civilians on October 7 serves to glorify them.
Trust @guardian‘s sister paper @ObserverUK to platform someone who highlights Hamas “resistance.”
Reminder: Hamas is a proscribed terrorist org in the UK (& elsewhere) & murdering, raping & kidnapping Israeli civilians isn’t “resistance” – it’s terrorism.https://t.co/IzJFc5jChW pic.twitter.com/j7wlgfVpAo
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 21, 2024
Khalidi opens the piece with a brief history of “Palestinian resistance,” tracing how Islamic cleric Izz ad-Din al-Qassam — after whom Hamas’ military wing was later named — led a guerilla campaign in what was then British Mandatory Palestine.
He then summarizes the last few decades of Hamas history:
The past 30 years have witnessed an accelerating competition between Hamas’s claim to embody national resistance to Israeli rule, and Fatah’s collapse into discord, corruption and collusion under the banner of the Palestinian Authority’s ‘security cooperation’ with the Israeli occupation. This race culminated in Hamas’s 7 October assault that was designed as much to shock and terrorise Israel as it was to discredit Fatah/ Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority and consolidate Hamas’s position as the primary inheritor and embodiment of the Palestinian national movement and its liberationist cause.”
Aside from the grossly flippant way in which he views the Hamas atrocities on October 7 as being the culmination of a “race” between Hamas’ claim to represent Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority’s declining loss of credibility, Khalidi’s assertion that the Hamas attacks were equally designed to “discredit” the PA is revealing.
Perhaps without realizing it, Khalidi actually let slip that the key to winning popular support among Palestinians is by doing what Hamas did and slaughtering Israelis and Jews — not, as many naive media commentators assume, by laying out a vision for a Palestinian state that is peaceful and prosperous.
The piece goes on to complain about how various powers have not devised a comprehensive plan for the Gaza Strip after Israel’s military withdrawal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, for example, is accused of “utopian” thinking over what Khalidi scornfully described as Blinken’s focus on “an as yet invisible ‘pathway to Palestinian statehood’.”
Of course, Khalidi completely ignores why Palestinian statehood seems so elusive — specifically, that every single peace deal has been rejected by the Palestinians since Israel’s founding in 1948, including peace offers that were on the table when Khalidi himself was acting as a negotiator for the Palestinians.
There are numerous problems with the piece, including glossing over the horrors of the Hamas massacre and presenting dubious casualty figures, but the most galling aspect of is Khalidi’s suggestion that the United States and the West, in general, will be to blame for another extremist group or organization rising to power in the Gaza Strip after the war:
Hamas’s brutal tactics in its 7 October assault have been washed out of Palestinian political consciousness by the subsequent indiscriminate and mass erasure of Palestinian civilian lives, and the US/west’s complicity in supporting, arming and allowing this onslaught to continue under the guise of Israel’s right to self-defence with no evident expiry date attached. Rather than crush Hamas, its most likely effect will be to remythologise the notion of resistance and sow the seed for future iterations that may be inspired by Hamas but have no necessary connection to its history, ideology or organisational structure.”
First, the statement that Hamas’ brutal actions on October 7 have been “washed out of Palestinian political consciousness by the subsequent indiscriminate and mass erasure of Palestinian civilian lives” is absolutely absurd.
Let us be crystal clear: the depravity perpetrated by Hamas was never in any type of Palestinian consciousness whatsoever. As innocent children were being murdered in their beds and as women were sexually tortured in the streets on that Saturday morning just over three months ago, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were filmed celebrating the violence and vowing to repeat it.
Second, the suggestion that America’s support for Israel’s defense will unintentionally “remythologise the notion of resistance” with groups inspired by Hamas taking their place, is a tacit way of absolving all Palestinians — including those in the future — of any responsibility.
In Khalidi’s view, if another extremist group akin to Hamas rises to power in the Strip and wages war against Israel, the fault will not lie with the Palestinians. Rather, it will be America’s responsibility, due to its sheer temerity in supporting Israel’s right to self-defense during this conflict.
And that’s the crux of it: for those like Khalidi, Palestinians are always blameless and Israel is the original sin. And nothing — facts or otherwise — can disturb that dichotomy.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Hamas Terrorists Labeled ‘Resistance’ in Odious Op-ed Published in ‘The Observer’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
The post Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
The post Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.