Rami G. Khouri

Words matter. They help us better understand our world and ourselves, especially at complex times such as this latest round of military attacks by Israelis and Palestinians.

 

The prevalent global analysis of the fighting is inadequate for anyone who seeks seriously to grasp the three critical dimensions of the fighting – its causes, nature and consequences. 

None of those three dimensions is addressed by the facile nature of politicians’ statements or mainstream media analysis, which tend to emphasize rockets fired by Palestinians from Gaza, Israel’s right to defend itself against such attacks, and speculation about a possible cease-fire or an imminent Israeli ground attack into Gaza.

 

Words can help, and in this case it is worthwhile to examine the words that Palestinians use to describe themselves, if we are seriously interested in understanding the core issues that define this conflict. These have manifested themselves since the 1930s in so many different ways, all leading back to a basic issue: The battle between Zionism and Arabism in Palestine, more particularly the battle between the rights of a Jewish-majority state of Israel and a dismembered and exiled Palestinian community that continues to struggle for its national rights.

 

The two leading Palestinian political and military groups that have mobilized their supporters over the past decades are Fatah and Hamas. Fatah was founded and for a long time headed by Yasser Arafat, and controls the Palestine National Authority that manages the West Bank under Israeli tutelage. Hamas came into being in the early 1980s and has dominated the Gaza Strip for several years now. 

Fatah is a peculiar acronym that comprises, in reverse order, the first three letters of the movement’s name in Arabic, which is Harakat Tahrir Filistin, or the Palestine Liberation Movement. Hamas is an acronym in Arabic for its full name, which is Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya, or the Islamic Resistance Movement. The two most important words in their names are “tahrir” and “muqawama,” or “liberation” and “resistance.” In the etymology of Palestinian nationalism, “liberation” and “resistance” are enduring emotional sentiments and political dynamics, because they largely define the nature of Palestinian identity and goals. They are the most important things to understand about how Palestinians feel and behave.

 

The once-dominant and vital Fatah movement has become a sad shell of its former self, with some very bright and patriotic leaders who have totally lost touch with their people in Palestine and abroad. Hamas has risen to the fore in recent decades mainly because it has more faithfully reflected the will of Palestinians to resist their occupation and subjugation, and to seek liberation and a normal life in their own sovereign state. Hamas’ core mission is “resistance,” whether through military actions that have little impact on Israel or by trying to organize Palestinians politically to improve their living conditions while they await eventual liberation.

 

Hamas is a heroic tragedy, simultaneously admirable and sorrowful. It is heroic for many Palestinians because it persists in resisting Zionism’s desire to eliminate Palestinian nationalism and identity as real forces that demand respect and can be manifested in some kind of national sovereignty in Palestine. “Resistance” to Hamas supporters and others means many things at once. It means consistently asserting the Palestinians’ national rights and the need to end their refugee status. It means constantly challenging the oppressive status quo that Palestinians suffer, especially in Gaza. It means consistently increasing Hamas’ technical capabilities in rockets, drones and communications, allowing it to inconvenience Israel more effectively with every new round of fighting.

 

Yet Hamas is also tragic because its strategy and tactics both result in repeated mass suffering by Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and sometimes elsewhere as well. The state of Israel, being the sovereign manifestation of Zionism, has repeatedly shown that it will viciously attack, assassinate, imprison and imperil all Palestinians – in Palestine, Lebanon or elsewhere – to maintain its hold on the land of Palestine. It is possible that Hamas’ long-term strategy of patient steadfastness and continuous resistance will succeed one day in forcing Israel to accept its terms, but that remains only a slim possibility, while the reality is that millions of Palestinians suffer the burden of repeated Israeli attacks on their homes and communities.

 

Exiled and subjugated communities such as the Palestinians today usually behave in ways that seem strange to middle class consumers in faraway lands – including fighting apparently futile battles and subjecting their populations to prolonged suffering and death. This can only be understood by appreciating the nature of “resistance” and the allure of “liberation.” That means analyzing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a battle between Zionist power and Palestinian liberation that has gone on for almost a century.