Regarding your comments on my letter in your Jan./Feb. 2024 issue, yes, Zionist violence has chilled non-violent Palestinian resistance. Consequently, non-violent resistance alone does not appear to be a winning strategy for Palestinian liberation. Success in freedom struggles usually requires striking the right balance between non-violence and armed force, as Mandela discovered in South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. Further, that armed force must be carefully modulated so as not to alienate, but garner, all-important public support – especially in the U.S.
Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack was not regulated in this manner. By deliberately attacking civilians (as well as military targets) they alienated public opinion, facilitated their being labeled “terrorists,” and made their actions hard to defend. Had they targeted only military assets, they could have been far more successful in the crucial public opinion arena. There would still have been collateral civilian casualties, but it would have been possible to justify them as proportional to the potential military gains, thereby complying with international humanitarian law. Had they utilized such a strategy, the abomination of desolation the Zionist beast has created in Gaza would stand out more clearly for what it is: unadulterated genocide. This could have resulted in much greater benefit to the Palestinian narrative.
How might Hamas’ rocket attacks have fit into a nuanced strategy such as this? Even beginning to address this question will require another letter.
Sincerely,
Gregory DeSylva