Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
On October 17, just 10 days after the Hamas attack on Israel, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Hamas cannot be eliminated.
Barak said, “We cannot completely eliminate Hamas. Hamas is an ideological movement which exists in [Palestinian] people’s dreams, in their hearts and in their minds.”
For the last thirty years, various resistance groups in the Middle East have emerged. Over time, they have made alliances among themselves. Their collective goal is to free Palestine from the brutal and enduring Israeli occupation.
The US and Israel have both killed numerous resistance leaders, but the resistance movement has only gained in strength and momentum.
Since October 7, and the Hamas attack on Israel which resulted in about 1,200 Israelis killed, and almost 200 Israelis taken as hostages to Gaza, Israel has responded with a military bombardment of Gaza that has resulted in over 20,000 dead, with the majority being women and children.
In a recent Harvard poll, respondents aged 18 to 24 were asked, “Do you think the Hamas killing of 1200 Israeli civilians in Israel can be justified by the grievances of Palestinians or is it not justified?” a 51 percent to 49 percent majority said the attacks were justified.
In 1982, the UN General Assembly resolution affirmed the right to use force against occupation to achieve the independence and liberation of Palestine.
In 1977, the Geneva Conventions, to which Palestine acceded in 2014, classifies conflicts against racist regimes as legitimate armed conflicts. The UN has reported Israel is an Apartheid state, and by definition a racist regime.
History supports that the liberation of occupation is rarely achieved without an armed struggle. Resistance fighting is governed by international humanitarian law, which means civilians must not be targeted and should be protected. The Hamas attack of October 7 was armed resistance, but did not distinguish between legitimate Israeli regime targets, and civilians.
Yahya Sinwar is the Prime Minister of Gaza, and Israel holds him responsible for the October 7 attack. Israel has said one of the goals of its current war on Gaza is to kill Sinwar. He was born in Khan Younis refugee camp, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Arabic language from Gaza University.
“This abominable attack was decided upon by Yahya Sinwar,” said IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. “Therefore he and all those under him are dead men walking.”
Many experts have said that Israel is incapable of eradicating Hamas, because it is an ideology. Killing Sinwar, or others, including the Palestinian people, will not get rid of armed resistance.
In January 2020, US President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani by a drone strike after his plane landed in Baghdad.
Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a main architect of Iran’s participation in the resistance of the occupation of Palestine.
In the fight to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria, Soleimani headed a coalition of Iraqi and Syrian fighters who killed as many ISIS as did the US-led coalition. The defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria was accomplished by the joint efforts of the US, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, but without collaboration.
In February 2008, the CIA assassinated Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus. He was the master of the military branch of the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah. Israel had occupied the south of Lebanon for decades, but left abruptly in 2000. However, they have continued to occupy an area in the south known as Shebaa Farms, which has water resources Israel has exploited. Hezbollah is resisting the occupation of Palestine, but also Lebanese occupied land.
In March 2004, Ahmed Yassin was assassinated in Gaza by an Israel helicopter strike ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Yassin was one of the founders of Hamas. He was killed while going to pray in the early morning in the wheelchair which he had been confined to since the age of 12.
In September 2000, Yassin had proposed several ceasefire initiatives with Israel, asking Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, along with stopping the assassination of Palestinian activists.
Yassin defended the Palestinian people’s right to resist the occupation and had criticized the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank for their decision to not participate in the armed resistance to Israeli occupation.
In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza, and in 2006 Hamas was elected to govern the enclave. Israel has imposed a land, sea and air blockade of Gaza since 2007, and many refer to Gaza as the largest ‘open-air prison’ on earth.
The population of Gaza is about 2 million, making it one of the highest population densities, and with eight refugee camps. The majority are Sunni Muslims, with a small Christian minority.
The UN is now warning of an imminent risk of famine in Gaza as the Israeli bombardment of the north and south rages on without a ceasefire in sight. The report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) published on Thursday reports the levels of acute food insecurity in Gaza is the largest ever recorded globally.
The UN’s World Food Program food security experts had already established that Gazans have ‘used up all their resources, livelihoods have collapsed, bakeries are destroyed, shops are empty, and families can’t find food,’ the report said.
The occupation of Palestine is the root cause of all suffering in the Middle East, and the liberation of Palestine is a fundamental cultural value held by the vast majority of all the Arab people, which number 22 countries, and represent about 300 million people.
The Palestinian people have been stateless, and under Israeli military occupation since 1948. They lack freedom, human rights and the UN calls Israel an Apartheid state.
Israel, and America may continue to kill Palestinian resistance leaders, but it will never stop the resistance, because it is a living ideology. The American patriot, Patrick Henry, said “Give me liberty, or give me death.” Those words spoken in 1776 are in the hearts and minds of millions of Palestinians and their supporters, including the University students across America.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
