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.