Poli-Ed Study Group
Session Three: Hamas Contained
Please join us for our third public study group! Everyone is welcome. You don't need to have attended previous sessions to join us. Send us your email, and we will send you a link to the Jitsi video meeting.
When: Sunday, February 16 at 1:30PM ET
Materials:
Hamas Contained, Chapter 3, “The Politics of Resistance”
Discussion Questions:
On page 63, Ariel Sharon, the leader of the Zionist Entity, said that “[l]ike all Israel citizens, I yearn for peace.” How has reading this chapter changed your view of peace as opposed to liberation?
What are differences between the role of religion within the Zionist occupation and within the resistance movement?
Why did Hamas want to enter the political realm after the Second Intifada? What is the relationship between the political/social wing and the military wing of Hamas?
What does Hamas’ rising popularity during and after the Second Intifada tell us about the political consciousness of the masses in Palestine? What does this tell us about building anti-colonial movements broadly?
How do you see the aforementioned traits of Hamas displayed in their current political/military activities? How have they changed?
Session Two: PFLP’s Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine
In the mountains east of the Jordan River, a patrol from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine punctuates a battle hymn with Soviet, Czechoslovak (vz. 58), and (top left) Egyptian weapons. Early 1969.
Please join us for our second public study group! Everyone is welcome. Send us your email, and we will send you a link to the Jitsi video meeting.
When: Sunday, February 2 at 1:30PM ET
Materials:
Two sections from Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine: “Founding Document” and “Who Are Our Enemies?”
“‘October 7 proved the importance of the struggle to the world’: an interview with Palestinian icon Leila Khaled,” Mondoweiss, December 23, 2024
Discussion Questions:
Founding Document
The PFLP resulted from the union of multiple different resistance groups who joined forced and also maintained degrees of autonomy in their action and messaging. What can we learn from this? What conflicts might arise and what benefits might this incur?
On page 17, the document says “armed struggle is not known to have limits and the armed resistance should not be confined to the militants, but also embrace all parts and sectors of the Palestinian resistance against the enemy at every level, dealing with the enemy militarily, but also a total boycott of all economic, civil and political institutions of the enemy and a rejection of all ties.”
Is this describing economic, civil, and political boycotts as forms of armed resistance? Is this advocating for armed resistance against anybody who participates in the economic, civil, or political institutions of the enemy (which includes global imperialism)? How do we enact this call in our environments?
Page 18 references the resistance’s “determination to reject humility and humiliation and settlements.”
What is the role of humiliation in the Zionist colonization of Palestine, as it is referenced here and elsewhere in the text?
Who Are Our Enemies?
Page 28 describes the emotional perspective on revolution which clouds the judgement and strategy of revolutionaries. Have you seen this experience within yourself or within the organizing spaces you participate in? (may be Palestine-related or otherwise). How does this differ from having a “scientific” approach to revolution?
Page 29 states that “Israel is in reality an integral part of the world Zionist movement—indeed, it is an offshoot of this movement.” What do you think about that analysis?
Page 29 describes the World Zionist Movement as “not confined to moral backing: it is really and basically a material support that provides Israel with more people, more money, more arms, more technical know-how and more alliances concluded by the movement by virtue of its influence, in addition to its support through publicity and propaganda in every part of the world.”
How do we remove ourselves from material support for the World Zionist Movement? How do we combat this material support?
This document lists Arab reaction, Arabs who may nominally support the liberation of Palestine but who are materially aligned with capitalism and extraction, as the fourth enemy of the Palestinian people. What do we take away from this analysis and how can we draw parallels in our own environments?
Leila Khaled Interview
Leila Khaled says, "We have one path, and it leads to Palestine: armed resistance." What current organizations attempt to obscure this truth and how? What does this tell us about the character of these organizations?
In this interview, and her life, Leila Khaled exemplifies the spirit of revolution. What does it mean to give your life to the struggle for a liberated world?
Session One
Introducing our new public reading group series.
Please join us for our first public reading discussion group! Everyone is welcome. Send us your email, and we will send you a link and an agenda to the Jitsi video meeting.
When: Sunday, January 19, 1:30PM ET
Materials:
“Israel’s Worldwide Role in Repression” by IJAN (pamphlet)
First 13 minutes of “Rogue states: US & Israel oppose entire world in UN vote to end Cuba blockade” by Geopolitical Economy Report (YouTube clip)
Discussion Questions:
Why does the text describe Israel as a “junior partner” in the U.S.-allied strategy for control of the SWANA region’s resources? What evidence does the text provide to back up this argument?
How does the Israeli occupation serve as a “laboratory” for the imperialist U.S. and other oppressive states around the world?
What do you think of IJAN’s definition of Zionism (found on page 5)? Is there anything you would add or change to the definition?
Why do you think it is important for social movements to consider the ways Israel contributes to violence and repression around the world?
Besides profit, what motivates Israel to sell technologies of repression to states and political actors around the world?
According to the text, what was/is the role of the Histadrut (the state of Israel’s “labor federation”) in maintaining the interests of the Israeli state globally?
What images from the text stood out to you as being particularly powerful?
How do the facts presented in the text serve to push back against conspiracy theories of “Jewish control of the world” by showing the actual role of the state of Israel in the imperialist order? How could understanding and sharing these facts help to combat actual antisemitic sentiment?
The text states that “Israel’s racism is rooted in centuries of European colonialism.” What are some ways that centuries of European colonialism and racism manifest in the Zionist project today?
What can people in the imperial core combat Israel’s role in repression and to support organizing to end it?
How does this pamphlet help us understand Israel’s opposition to end the Cuba blockade?