[Marxism] Hamas is hoping for an IDF ground operation

[Jscotlive at aol.com]

S.Artesian:
 
Your attempt at patronisation aside, my post consists of an analysis which  
is vital to the present situation.  
What we write and say informs our practice in any given period. There has  
been some confusion on the left over how much solidarity we can offer the Iraqi, 
 Afghan, and Palestinian resistance due to the fact that it comes with a  
religious integument. Such confusion has been responsible for the emergence of  
the Cruise Missile Left, the proponents of the Euston Manifesto, etc., and  
therefore must be challenged by all who understand Israel's settler-colonial  
project as part of an overarching imperialist strategy to colonise the  entire 
region. I'm not saying that such a political degeneration is evident  in Eric's 
post, but what it does is obfuscate the issue. 
 
It is in the interests of the international working class that this project  
is resisted and defeated. Therefore, at a time when those on the front lines 
of  this resistance are struggling for their very survival it is the duty of  
Marxists to offer their unflinching solidarity with the resistance. Yes, those  
with whom we are in solidarity may become our enemies at a later date. But 
only  when the material conditions change can our analysis change.
 
Put it another way, when a brother with whom we have a deep disagreement  is 
being strangled, this is not the time to continue the disagreement, it  is the 
time to confront a common enemy.
 
Furthermore, your comparison with the Popular Front during the Spanish  Civil 
War is misleading in the extreme. Offering and demonstrating solidarity  with 
the Palestinians of Gaza is precisely to challenge the attempts by  Israel 
and the West to split the Palestinians into good (moderate, Fatah) and  bad 
(Hamas and their supporters).
 
We must challenge this. Attacks on Hamas only serve to give succour to  
Israeli and Western propaganda in its efforts to dehumanise all  Muslims by 
promulgating the view that their religion and culture are  retrograde. Political 
Islam has filled a vacuum left when secular  forces in the region failed in their 
historic task. To call for such a  resistance now when the conditions for it 
on the ground is clearly non-existent  is to engage in paternalism of the most 
pernicious kind.
 
The issue is not the form the resistance takes. The issue is that  resistance 
is taking place. There is no moral equivalence between an oppressed  and an 
oppressor people. In other words, the most committed proponent of an  Islamic 
Caliphate in Palestine who is resisting Israel's onslaught is  playing more of 
a progressive role in the international struggle against  imperialism than the 
most modern, enlightened Israeli citizen who  considers themselves a firm 
believer in democracy.