How Netanyahu's response has vindicated the 'decolonisation' narrative on October 7

A year ago, as my mind processed the horrific news of a massacre of Israeli civilians, I struggled between two compelling narratives. According to one narrative, which framed the reaction of most Western countries, the Hamas attack represented another dark chapter in a history of pogroms and genocidal acts targeting the Jewish people. While this narrative ignores the historical reality of occupation that preceded this attack, the sheer scale and brutality of the assault carried out by an organization whose charter still calls for the eradication of Israel and reiterates tropes like the Protocols of Zion point in this direction. 

However, according to another narrative, the attack had all the hallmarks of ‘decolonisation’—a reaction from a marginalized, dehumanized, oppressed, and colonized indigenous population to an occupation by a settler state transplanted in the region by colonial powers. In short, on October 7, Hamas broke out of jail and went on a rampage whose inhumanity mirrored that of the occupiers. No wonder this narrative found traction in the Global South, which has experienced the brutal logic derived from colonial tropes like manifest destiny, the white man’s burden, and the superiority of settler populations over indigenous “people without histories”—surplus and disposable populations whose lives have less value than those of the occupiers. For the message coming from western capitals in the past year was loud and clear: Palestinian lifes are less valuable then Israeli lives. 

One year on, the sheer impunity that met repeated violations of international law by Israel and the scale of destruction and loss of life in Gaza, and now in Lebanon, vindicates the latter interpretation. But this vindication also increases the daily risks faced by Jewish communities worldwide, which should not be underestimated. For while the Israeli government, in its role as a settler state, is viewed positively by a large segment of the global far right, Jewishness still represents an ‘otherness’ deeply rooted in a dark past, both in the West and among reactionary movements in the Middle East. That is why even for the sake of protecting Jewish populations in both Israel and the rest of the world, it is crucial to bring an end to this madness and to stop Bibi’s insane war. However, the long-term solution depends on decolonizing Israel and Palestine and ensuring full equality and security for all inhabitants living in both present-day Israel and Palestine. 

Still, acts of decolonisation are not immune from genocidal intentions, and while anti-colonial resistance is justified, the October 7 attack represents a very dark chapter in the history of anti-colonial resistance, fatally blurring the lines between anti-Semitism and legitimate uprising.

Only the US can stop Israel

I detest the Iranian theocracy, which I hope one day will be overthrown by the Iranian people, and I hope that Lebanon will reclaim its sovereignty, with the state asserting its monopoly on the use of force within its borders. So I would never hail Nasrallah as a resistance hero. I also believe that Israel (in its pre-1967 borders), like most nation-states, is a product of history, warts and all, which cannot be erased. Unfortunately, this state is still based on a 19th-century narrative of colonial dispossession of indigenous populations. While criticism of Israel is legitimate, any suggestion of canceling "the entity" is pregnant with genocide. All that said, what we are seeing today is a far-right Israeli government bent on ethnic cleansing and pushing the region to the brink of 'total war,' led by a Prime Minister who abandoned his own people including the Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7 while his troops were busy 'protecting' illegal settlers in the West Bank, using war to hold on to power. That this genocide (particularly in Gaza where more than 40,000 people have been killed) is happening with US weapons is appalling and risks being Biden's ultimate legacy, even though I hope Americans are wise enough to choose the lesser of two evils, as I cannot even imagine what Netanyahu will do if Trump is elected. The reality is that as things stand Israel can act with complete impunity simply because it has a military arsennal which in the short term, can nuetralise and decapitate any threat. But sustaining this in the long term would further militarise Israeli society turning what started as a social democracy (corrupted from its inception by the occupation and a colonial ideology) in to a fully blown fascist state. Still at this point Harris should know that only the US can save Israel from itself. And the only way to do this is to stop supplying it with offensive weapons and limit military help to the 'iron dome' (even if this raises another question; which iron dome will protect Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories?). But none of this will happen before the Presidential election (and probably even after) not just because of the power of the pro Israel lobby but also because supporting Israel is part of US's national identity. That is not necessarily a bad thing if supporting Israel also entails saving it from creeping fascism. My hope lies in the vibrant Palestinian/Arab diaspora and in progressive Jewish voices, both of which can inject nuance, humanity (and practical common sense) in US foreign policy. They may not be able to stop the carnage happening right now but it could perhaps commence an incremental shift from unconditional support for Israel to a more nuanced approach.