Hamas Victory No Surprise
The Hamas election victory in Palestine may have
caught many Americans off guard, but according to an expert at St. Lawrence
University, it was not at all surprising.
The Hamas election victory in Palestine may have caught many Americans off guard, but according to an expert at St. Lawrence University, it was not at all surprising.
“To anyone who’s been following the situation closely,” says Assistant Professor of Global Studies John Collins, “it’s hardly surprising. Indeed, given that the Israeli occupation has been going on for nearly 40 years, and the dispossession of the Palestinian people for nearly 60, it’s a wonder that more Palestinians didn’t turn to Hamas earlier.”
“Discussion of the conflict almost never includes the word ‘colonization,’ even though most of the world knows that is exactly what’s going on,” he says. “You don’t even hear the word “occupation” much any more. What this shows is that Israel and its allies in the Bush administration have succeeded in controlling the terms of debate. They have succeeded in applying the categories of the “war on terrorism” and deflecting attention away from the Palestinians’ right to resist occupation.”
Further, Collins says, “I think it’s important to remember that U.S. and Israeli leaders use these terms for their own political benefit. The terms that Palestinians use are much more in line with the international consensus on the issue, that the occupation must end completely, that the settlements are illegal and that no one has the right to tell Palestinians to be complicit in their own oppression.”
This professor is exactly the kind of researcher and teacher our friendly neighborhood Fascists would have students turn in for blacklisting.
Even our music has forgotten what it’s like to be on side of people who are poor and oppressed. Like Janis said, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
Posted: Sat - January 28, 2006 at 05:56 AM