Question I’ve had (obviously Israeli government sucks but trying to understand Hamas):
Is there any sanity in Hamas’s calculus? Could any of them say “well, it’s been hard losing 35,000 of our people, BUT thanks to taking the hostages we … got a couple prisoners exchanged … and …”? Did Oct 7 do anything for Palestine besides getting world eyeballs on the region? The visibility seems a little useless given the death toll.
And will they have any domestic support after a certain number of casualties?
btw I could see myself being utterly irrational when backed into a corner for decades, just trying to make some sense of whether they even have a game plan
I don’t know about sanity, but it’s very logical when you remember that Hamas is a terrorist group that sometimes governs rather than the other way around.
The genocide is pretty much the best thing that could happen to them. They may pretend to care about Palestinian lives, but in reality they only care about their own power and influence.
And how does a terrorist group gain power and influence? By radicalizing people to join.
What’s more radicalizing than the myriad daily atrocities of a brutal apartheid regime supported by the most powerful countries in the world? Very little if anything.
Did Oct 7 do anything for Palestine besides getting world eyeballs on the region? The visibility seems a little useless given the death toll.
Yes three nations already recognized Palestine and the illusion of israel being a reasonable state has been completely shattered. Israel committing Genocide does not damage Hamas it only damages israel.
As israel has rejected all peaceful attempts at resolving the conflict this is the only way Palestinians have left. And so far they are winning.
The best recruitment tool for Hamas is Israeli violence. Israel kills many civilians but a manageable number of Hamas. There are many Palestinians in prison camps with no trials, Hamas negotiates for their own.
Their calculus is one of triage, they want an effective fighting force to liberate Palestine and not become another West Bank (effectively dissolved with Palestinians treated like cattle). So the need for their organization takes priority over the general population.
They’re right wing, imagine how MAGA types would respond to the US being occupied and genocided by China.
The New York Times did an article on it last fall. Here’s a non-paywalled copy of the article or, if you prefer audio, here’s the episode of The Daily where they discuss it.
Right, Hamas alone eats 100% of aid…
Question I’ve had (obviously Israeli government sucks but trying to understand Hamas):
Is there any sanity in Hamas’s calculus? Could any of them say “well, it’s been hard losing 35,000 of our people, BUT thanks to taking the hostages we … got a couple prisoners exchanged … and …”? Did Oct 7 do anything for Palestine besides getting world eyeballs on the region? The visibility seems a little useless given the death toll.
And will they have any domestic support after a certain number of casualties?
btw I could see myself being utterly irrational when backed into a corner for decades, just trying to make some sense of whether they even have a game plan
I don’t know about sanity, but it’s very logical when you remember that Hamas is a terrorist group that sometimes governs rather than the other way around.
The genocide is pretty much the best thing that could happen to them. They may pretend to care about Palestinian lives, but in reality they only care about their own power and influence.
And how does a terrorist group gain power and influence? By radicalizing people to join.
What’s more radicalizing than the myriad daily atrocities of a brutal apartheid regime supported by the most powerful countries in the world? Very little if anything.
Yes three nations already recognized Palestine and the illusion of israel being a reasonable state has been completely shattered. Israel committing Genocide does not damage Hamas it only damages israel.
As israel has rejected all peaceful attempts at resolving the conflict this is the only way Palestinians have left. And so far they are winning.
The best recruitment tool for Hamas is Israeli violence. Israel kills many civilians but a manageable number of Hamas. There are many Palestinians in prison camps with no trials, Hamas negotiates for their own.
Their calculus is one of triage, they want an effective fighting force to liberate Palestine and not become another West Bank (effectively dissolved with Palestinians treated like cattle). So the need for their organization takes priority over the general population.
They’re right wing, imagine how MAGA types would respond to the US being occupied and genocided by China.
The New York Times did an article on it last fall. Here’s a non-paywalled copy of the article or, if you prefer audio, here’s the episode of The Daily where they discuss it.