The idea that the Palestinian people have only been able to persist because of their religion is ridiculous to me. They are resisting because colonialism, apartheid and genocide are very bad things to which nobody would want to be subjected, not because of Islam. If Palestinians were atheists, is he suggesting that they wouldn’t have the strength or the will to resist? Would their lack of a belief in the supernatural turn them into doormats for Isn’treal?
I like Hakim’s content, but his position on religion is quite frustrating. He is a Muslim first and a Marxist second. Also, Joram van Klaveren is still a right-winger.
I’ve been reading all the replies in this thread and feel like I am missing something. As far as I can tell, the only thing Hakim is saying, is that it is important to consider Islamic influence on current Palestinian struggle. Not that the only reason the people are fighting is because of Islam, or that Islam is any way better for liberation of colonized people.
I wouldn’t be even surprised if Islam is actually more prone to anti-colonial struggle than other religions, but I don’t know enough about it to make such claims. But more importantly, I don’t see anything that says that struggle for Palestinian liberation is something that is possible only thanks to Islam.
Religious text can have huge influence even in completely irreligious populations (in this case, people who identify as atheist). For example, my country is one of the most irreligious in the world. But (in my opinion unfortunately) many of our customs, laws, world view, etc. are in some ways derived from the Bible. So it would be fair to say that to understand my country, it might be a good idea to read the Bible.
Which I would say is basically what Hakim is saying here. If you want to have better understanding of current Palestinian fight for liberation, it is useful to have knowledge of Islam. Which I would say is a completely fair statement. Especially considering how demonized Muslims are in western countries.
I am happy to be corrected, but I just cannot see what people are complaining about in this post.
But he isn’t saying this, he’s saying that it’s religion that’s driving the anti-colonial struggle.
And then he proceeds to give a list of religious texts to read in order for us to learn about the persistence of Palestinian resistance.
This is a blatantly idealist analysis of the situation in Palestine. Again, no one is saying we need to ignore or even actively reject the influence of religion to the struggle, but it’s simply not correct that religion is driving the struggle. He offers no materialist analysis and no sources to learn about settler-colonialism or the history of Palestine and its resistance.
The problem with this is that he positions himself as a Marxist educator, but in this post he’s being an idealist.
He also says this is the “largest missing context” in regards to the Palestinian struggle, but that’s also not true. A lot more people are thinking about this in religious terms, than as an anti-colonial struggle against zionist settler-colonialism and the wider context of western imperialism - which it is in reality.
You claim he’s just trying to highlight Islamic influence on the current struggle, but his wording is not consistent with this. His post is idealist and not materialist.
For your take of the post to be true we would have to assume his intentions and say he didn’t communicate clearly enough. If we just read what he wrote, it cannot be considered something a Marxist-Leninist educator should be saying.
I agree that many western countries have a christian culture, but would reading the bible really help you understand our modern society, especially more than reading some Marxist theory?
It just feels like you and almost everyone else defending Hakim’s post are trying to find a meaning in his words that just isn’t there if you read them directly, a meaning that you find acceptable and compatible with Marxism, but not one that can be read from the actual words he used.
I agree he strays a bit into idealist territory, and dangerously towards saying that this is a mostly religious based conflict. However, it would be false to suggest he is ignoring other dimensions of it like material analysis of colonialism. Most people who would come upon his community post would likely be aware of his recent video entitled ‘everything you need to know about Palestine.’ If hakim things religion is primary, why does it not take up much of his video about ”everything you need to know?” It’s clear in his post that he has received many messages specifically about Islam, so he took the opportunity to share these books.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: