almaember

flawed , 1 month ago to palestine group

Equations of legitimacy

Here are barely controversial beliefs.

1. Palestinians have legitimate right to unleash force against Hamas & Palestinian Authority to free themselves of oppression they are subjected to by their ruling classes.
2. Israelis have legitimate right to unleash force against their ruling class to free themselves of oppression they are subjected to by their ruling class.

That's the easy part.

Now to the challenging part (in my book).

1. Both Palestinians & Radical Palestinians (Hamas & rest) have legitimate right to unleash force against their oppressors.
2. Both Palestinians & Radical Palestinians (Hamas & rest) have legitimate right to unleash force against some beneficiaries of oppression.
3. Both Palestinians & Radical Palestinians (Hamas & rest) have legitimate right to unleash force against all beneficiaries of oppression.

Each of us draw our lines at various points within our own moral map & they wont ever align — which is good as we can hold each other to account when either of us deviate too far (or) enabling more harm than good with our dogma.

In my book, the moment Hamas loses legitimacy is the moment it starts exercising power only for the sake of having its authority (which it very well is & has been in many contexts — thats there for everyone to see).

The moment it actually acquires power, its automatically an enemy in my book. Even now, its an enemy but an enemy that nonetheless have legitimacy of its own, that's derived from it being a Palestinian resistance — as it has oppressors of its own.

Ofcourse, I too want the Anarchist society of the future where there are no Hamas, no Genocidal entity, no Empire, no dictatorships (so called "Democracies") each of us live in.

But those rules that are applicable then are not applicable now. Goes without saying: Where its not unreasonable to apply those exact rules without harming long-term vision (building the new in the shell of the old), we should follow it.

But being religious i.e rigid about one's ever evolving morality without us anywhere near or likelihood of reaching that future saner society of vision, rigidity will foreclose many effective options & makes it near impossible for us to reach there.

Yes, two wrongs dont make right - only as a rule of thumb, not applicable to every situation.

If you oppress others (or) are a beneficiary of oppression, know that you/someone you care about will pay the price for the oppression you engaged in. Then the options we are weighing in are: Cost of not taking action vs Cost of taking action.

In summary, My personal morality as of now (evolving always just like yours):

Be pragmatic yet be grounded to the principles you believe in.

PS: The imprecise sketch I drew represents sections of Israeli society. Its relevant to our societies too in a narrow way.

@palestine @israel #israel #palestine #gaza #anarchy