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Several days ago, in a post I called "Distinctions Without a Difference," I expressed several questions that were floating around the back of my mind regarding whether there are really meaningful distinctions of intent between "Palestinians" and "Hamas." I raised those questions because everywhere we turn, both explicitly and implied, we're being asked to believe that Hamas is one thing but Palestinians are another. I said in that post that I can imagine that such distinctions are meaningful, but that I always seemed to lack actual evidence.
One of the arguments I often hear for the lack of evidence for the existence of non-genocidal Palestinians is the fact that peaceful Palestinians are oppressed by Hamas and, if they were to openly push-back on acts of terror, then they would themselves be targeted. It isn't hard to imagine that possibility, but there's something about it that feels a wee bit too convenient for my comfort. We're just supposed to take their word for it. Such an explanation is crafted in a way that forecloses the possibility of ever having any empirical evidence. We are expected to take it completely on faith.
The narrative for the existence of peaceful Palestinians goes something like this: "By golly, those meany people in Hamas are terrible, but Palestinians aren't like Hamas. All those secret peace-loving Palestinians would really tell it like it is if they weren't afraid of those meanies in Hamas. Otherwise, boy, they'd really let loose with their anti-genocidal views."
Okay. I guess. But how might we test a hypothesis that maybe rank-and-file Palestinians don't actually share common genocidal inclinations with Hamas?
One way to do that would be to take a close look at what Palestinians say and do when living in geographies not controlled by Hamas. If the only thing holding them back is their fear of being targeted by Hamas, then if they're not within Hamas' reach, we should expect to hear words of peace flowing from their tolerant Palestinian lips.
In the weeks following October 7th, with astonishing speed given such supposedly short notice, massive Palestinian protests have erupted all over the world in celebration and support of what Hamas has done. Everywhere you look, the nakedly genocidal chant of "from the river to the sea.." has been ringing in the streets of major cities throughout the West.
But what have we heard from the non-genocidal faction of the Palestinian people? Crickets. Bupkis. Nada. Zip.
I'm afraid that, like it or not, a rational person would have to conclude from the evidence that, if non-genocidal Palestinians exist, they are a vanishingly small community -- no more relevant to actual events than unicorns and faeries. For if there really was a sizable community of such Palestinians anywhere, ones who really eschewed Jew-hatred, we would expect to have heard from them by now.
That this dog still isn't barking, at this late hour, should be...instructive.
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Discussion (19)
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This may sound odd coming from me, but I think there's another way to look at the question. First, Arabs/Palestinians have no qualms about punishing those who disagree with them. A simple example is that if an Arab in recent years sold land to a non-Arab, he would pay a price (beatings, ostracism). Second, in all those non-Hamas countries, I know there were pro-Israel protests, but I would have been surprised to see "anti-Hamas" protests. I think it would have been dangerous To make that kind of statement would have required more courage than I think most of the Palestinians have. So I think they'd have little motivation to protest against Hamas with the potential retribution, even if they don't like what Hamas is doing.
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Great post. I did a related post:
https://ricochet.com/1502689/all-we-have-to-do-is-take-these-lies-aand-make-them-true/
In the wake of WW2 we created the “good Germans” narrative. It was based on similar logic. The “good Germans“ … and there were many… couldn’t speak up for fear of the Nazis. Or didn’t know the horrors being done in their name.
There is an excellent book - Hitler’s Willing Executioners - that documents how this was not the case. Goodbye to Berlin - The book that spawned the play Cabaret - written in 1939 talks about how German parents scolded their children about being good or they’d “go up the chimney.” It was common knowledge and supported.
I’d argue it’s the same among Palestinians.
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There have been noticeable (i.e. not microscopic) pro-Israel protests by Palestinians outside Hamas-controlled territory? If true that would be interesting know more about.
In a way I think your comment implicitly agrees with the premise of my post. If there were substantial numbers of non-genocidal Palestinians, they would not need to fear reprisals for speaking against genocide. The fact that, even in the West, they fear reprisal likely means that their numbers are vanishingly small by comparison to the genocidal monsters.
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I see your point. If they're not sufficiently outraged to speak out, in spite of potential consequences, they are small in numbers or barely exist.
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For me it's "if there really is a distinction between Hamas and 'ordinary' Palestinians, somebody with power would be trying to do something about it." I understand Susan's point about people of Palestinian origin who live in other places being afraid of retaliation. But somewhere in the Arab world there must be some ruler or government or moneyed interest that would see value to evicting Hamas if for no other reason than to reduce the likelihood that large numbers of Gaza residents will be killed.
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