Horrific videos posted by Hamas gunmen testify to what is being called “ISIS-like brutality” waged on unsuspecting innocent Israeli citizens.
Because the dictionary definition was so precisely followed, only the exceptionally hard-hearted would deny that Hamas executed an act of terror.
The world is shocked by the testimonials of torture. It is also horrified by the satanic exultations of the Hamas gunmen at the wanton desecration of Israeli lives. It hasn’t therefore taken very long for top world leaders to condemn Hamas unequivocally and define its actions as terror.
Even India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated that his government unequivocally condemns terror in all its shades.
I thank Prime Minister @netanyahu for his phone call and providing an update on the ongoing situation. People of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 10, 2023
Ordinarily, images of gratuitous violence should not be aired out of respect to the deceased. But when there is an attempt at painting Hamas in shades of grey, to rationalise its hateful zealotry, the videos serve as vital proof to counter the propaganda.
Indeed, there has been an attempt at whitewashing Hamas’s crimes against humanity. Some have chosen to draw a false moral equivalence between Hamas and the Israeli state to justify the terror attack. This tendency has also been displayed by many Indians, especially opposition politicians. Despite, India being a victim of Islamist terror, a number of political parties that are part of the INDIA bloc have refused to name Hamas or even call out its barbarity in their official statements.
A resolution passed at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, its highest deliberative body, makes no mention of Hamas. In fact, with blithe disregard for the facts, it places the blame for the violence at Israel’s door. The CWC resolution is not much different in this regard from the Marxist branch of the Communist Party of India’s statement on the strikes in Israel.
CWC resolution
- ‘Support rights of Palestinians to land, self-government’
- ‘Support rights of Palestinians to live with dignity & respect’
- ‘Call for immediate ceasefire and negotiations’
Left statement
- ‘Israeli aggression by the right-wing Netanyahu govt’
- ‘Israel has killed over 200 Palestinians this year’
- ‘Israel is the aggressor state in the conflict’
When questioned on the selectivity of their moral indignation, leaders from the INDI Alliance deftly cited past precedence. They have justified their stand by stating that even late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who led the NDA 1 coalition, supported the Palestinian cause.
While it is true that all Indian governments have backed the Palestinian cause, it is disingenuous to suggest that the support extended to underwriting any and every means that Palestinian leaders may deploy to achieve the ends of liberating Gaza and the West Bank from Israeli control.
The Gaza Strip is today controlled by Hamas after it won an election in 2008.
True face of Hamas: Undeniable hard facts
- Hamas is a spin-off of the Palestinian branch of Muslim Brotherhood
- Hamas is inspired by Muslim Brotherhood which has links to terror groups in J&K
- Hamas charter calls for the destruction of Israel
- Hamas seeks establishment of an Islamic state in Gaza & West Bank
- Hamas backs liberation of Muslim lands including Kashmir through force
- Hamas seeks solution to Palestine issue in line with the objectives of ‘jihad’
- Hamas is militantly opposed to PLO led by Yasser Arrafat or any other PLO-linked organisation
- Hamas sabotaged Oslo Peace Accords by carrying out a string of suicide attacks in Israel in 1993
- Hamas is reportedly funded by Iran & Turkey
- Hamas was expelled from Jordan in 1999 for pursuing armed resistance
- Egypt restricts the movement of Hamas leaders out of Gaza
- June 2023 poll by Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR): 50%+ Palestinians support Hamas
- Hamas is designated a terror organisation by US and EU
The hard facts suggest that it would be a profound error of judgement to romanticise Hamas gunmen as freedom fighters. Aside from the crazed objectives of the Hamas charter of governance, it must not be forgotten that the organisation rejected the mission of Yasser Arafat, a reformed terrorist who denounced violence.
The late PLO chairman negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The accords would have gone a long way in establishing a just peace. The Indian state’s support for Palestine is an endorsement of that quest for peace that has been long jettisoned by Hamas. Hamas has rejected any talks with Israel as such a dialogue would not result in a solution that conforms with the objectives of jihad.
It isn’t hard to see why it prefers jihad over dialogue. Hamas is the Palestinian offshoot of the Islamic Brotherhood. The latter has links to terrorists who have attacked India in Kashmir. Hamas not only vows to annihilate Jews and pledges itself to the destruction of Israel but it is also committed to liberating what it calls “other Muslim lands”, including Kashmir. In all these lands, it wants to establish an Islamic state.
Hamas deeply divides the Muslim world. Nations like Egypt and Jordan have ousted Hamas leaders from their soil as they don’t condone their brand of religious violence. Unfortunately, Hamas is here to stay. Not only does it thrive on the oxygen it is supplied by woke leftists, but it has been able to indoctrinate millions of Gaza residents who are willing to vote for it in overwhelming numbers.
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