The Palestinian resistance, marked by decades of struggle, is a just response to a history of dispossession and violence waged by the Zionist occupation of Israel.
The blockade of Gaza, settler violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel triggered the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7. In retaliation, Israel declared war on Hamas, with Gaza as the ground zero. In over a week, Israel dropped 6,000 bombs in Gaza’s residential areas and hospitals, resulting in over 2,800 casualties, including women and children.
This month’s escalation of violence is just the latest of the 75-year Zionist aggression.
What the world is witnessing today is only a fraction of the settler colonial project of Israel and the resistance of the Palestinian people.
The indiscriminate attack of Israel on civilians in Gaza is a form of punishment for the Palestinians who dared to resist and unequivocally support the resistance and opposition to the Israeli occupation.
Since 1948, Palestinians have taken on all forms of resistance, including economic, political, and armed revolt, as a fundamental and strategic means for their survival. Hamas is part of the Palestinian resistance, formed with the goal of ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
While Hamas has been declared a terrorist organization by Israel and the West, Palestinians, especially in Gaza, view Hamas as a legitimate representative of their interests and rights. In a survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 31 percent said Hamas is most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinians. With poverty afflicting half of Gaza residents, they believe that the Hamas armed struggle is the best fighting chance to combat Israel’s apartheid policies, improve economic conditions, and recover Palestine.
Israel's apartheid policies over Palestine are made possible by Western support. Notably, 138 of the 193 United Nations member states recognize Palestine. Among those who do not recognize Palestine are the US, the United Kingdom, and Israel.
US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his country’s commitment to supporting Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Immediately after the attack, the US bolstered military support to Israel, deploying warships, aircrafts, and weapons. Historically, Israel has been the largest beneficiary of US foreign assistance. Since World War II, the US has sent Israel USD158 billion, primarily in military aid. And this week, Israel wants an additional USD10 billion military aid from the US.
Similarly, the Philippines sides with Israel and sources arms therefrom. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has openly declared support for Israel and condemned Hamas, after three Filipinos died in the war; and he might just designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, per National Security Adviser Eduardo Año.
The Philippines supports the two-state solution that recognizes both Israel and Palestine, but it is impossible to take both sides in a genocide. At this point, we must go back to the fundamental point that Israel is built on the stolen land of Palestinians.
If the Marcos administration truly sympathizes with the people, it will consider the retraction of support to Israel and support the Palestinian struggle for liberation. Until then, the two-state solution remains a vote for Israel, its genocidal war, apartheid policies, and the Western superpowers in its backing.
If the president is indeed honest in the pursuit of an independent foreign policy, he will pursue stronger ties with Palestine in the interest of liberation from the West. Standing in solidarity with Palestine means understanding the roots of its struggle, in searching for a just and lasting solution to the violent conflict. And it starts with acknowledging that the Palestinian resistance is justified, and the violent resistance is the reality of the revolution. ●
First published in the October 20, 2023 print edition of the Collegian.
