Reclaiming the narrative of resistance

I regret having to say that the dominant Palestinian discourse silences any internal political criticism of Hamas. It argues that "now is not the time" for criticizing the movement that stands alone at the front of the struggle against the occupation. 

According to this outlook, for now we must toe the line with Hamas' murderous Islamist ideology that denies the secular national Palestinian narrative that represents most Palestinians both inside and outside Gaza. 

The few who have dared to criticize the movement, its actions and the consequences of October 7 on Gaza are always answered with the slogan that Hamas has emptied of all meaning: "We have the right to resist!" These words are still seen as the ultimate answer to every ethical, moral and political question undermining Hamas' superficial version of resistance. It's as if "We have the right to resist" isn't just a temporary measure but a divine commandment. 

Before I discuss the shallowness of the debate on resistance caused by Hamas, it's important for me to note that I don't dispute our right as Palestinians to object to the occupation, a right that is enshrined in international law. But I do dispute the definition, meaning and methods that Hamas has forced on the Palestinian national narrative and the generations that have followed it blindly. 

Martyrs as the sole measure of success

It's still worth mentioning that criticism of Hamas does not absolve Israel of its responsibility for the annihilation of Gaza. But "We have the right to resist!" in the Hamas version sees the genocide, the destruction, the wiping out of entire families in Gaza as a necessary and predictable price on the road to the longed-for national liberation. 

According to this version, all the loss and destruction are bringing us Palestinians closer to our goals. And the more massive and tragic the losses and sacrifices are, the greater are the chances for national liberation. According to this version, the genocide taking place in Gaza has put us just two steps from liberation. 

My Palestinian sisters and brothers, Hamas has turned these losses into the sole measure of success for the Palestinian struggle against the occupation. It has even forced the Palestinians to agree to this definition and to the price it exacts without any questions or reservations. 

Hamas has made Palestinians' bodies a tool to carry out its political views and the only tool in the struggle for national liberation. It has left the Palestinians alone on the front lines of the resistance, exposed to systematic annihilation. Hamas has abandoned the Palestinian existence not just because it has made all Gazans bear the blame for the carnage carried out on October 7. It has abandoned the Palestinians because Hamas never planned to protect them; from the very beginning, it planned to use them. 

My Palestinian sisters and brothers, Hamas' version of resistance is dangerous not just because Hamas uses it as a tool for silencing internal Palestinian criticism and brainwashing, which in turn glorifies and perpetuates the "shahid industry," the sacrifice of "martyrs." This version is dangerous because it is presented to Palestinians as a divine edict, which, if you object to it, you oppose the very legitimacy of the project of national liberation. 

No political horizon

With the help of the debate on the losses, Hamas has made the entire Palestinian existence – personal and collective – intolerable as a notion outside the armed struggle. It has painted the destruction of Palestinian bodies as necessary collateral damage. 

My Palestinian sisters and brothers, Hamas' goal in "We have the right to resist!" is to silence all political, strategic, moral, ethical and humanitarian questions that we as Palestinians must ask, especially today as Gaza is being wiped out. 

Above all, the goal of this outlook is to block the deep processes of awareness that could undermine Hamas as a doctrine, ideology and political option, and to block its waging of war over the bodies of Palestinians. The superficial version of "We have the right to resist!" serves Israel as well as Hamas and perpetuates the organization in the Palestinian consciousness as the liberation movement leading the struggle against the occupation, extending its superfluous life.  

My Palestinian sisters and brothers, the time has come to admit that Hamas has no political horizon beyond deepening the Palestinian losses and leveraging them to continue its existence and rule in Gaza. The time has come to reject the failed version of resistance that the movement has forced on the Palestinians. The time has come to reject the definitions, interpretations and practices that reiterate the catastrophic narrative of October 7 as resistance. 

As Palestinians, we must refuse to cooperate with the notion that Hamas must be saved and its leadership rehabilitated as it continues to rule Gaza. Above all, we must ask how in the world October 7 as a resistance narrative has become legitimized, even if only partially, among Palestinians and in the wider Arab world. And what does that say about us and our narrative? 

My Palestinian sisters and brothers, as Palestinians we are obligated to create a different version of the Palestinian resistance that matches the spirit of national liberation we dream of. We are obligated to instil new meaning into the ethos of national resistance after the expropriation by Hamas. 

We will survive only if we decide immediately that the dominant national narrative – which is based on victimhood and self-righteousness – no longer works. We will survive and achieve national liberation only if we set out on the painful journey to create an alternative Palestinian narrative that has no room for Israeli blood or any other blood. 

This article was first published by the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.