In response to some self-described Leftist calling Hamas a "Capitalist Theocratic Fascist" Ms Kates writes:
There have already been many responses to this nonsense, and @Mujamma Haraket long ago wrote the definitive English-language expose of the "propped up by the zionist entity" line of attack, but it's worth considering the framework of many of our responses, coming from the left. Obviously, a great deal of this sort of mischaracterization of the resistance is being done with bad faith, or as a form of conscious or subconscious psychological warfare to advance the interests of imperialism and zionism.
That is, it seeks to split the de facto alliance between the international revolutionary and even broad left, and the resistance and revolutionary forces in the Arab and Iranian region -- in West Asia -- today, which are led by liberation movements with an Islamic identity.
To be clear, these comments are not meant to cast aspersion on the history, present or future of the Arab or regional revolutionary left, which has contributed greatly to the development of the struggle in Palestine & throughout the region, both theoretically and militarily. However, many international leftists, revolutionaries or Marxists have justified their support for the resistance of, for example, Hamas, by citing the support that exists from Palestinian revolutionary or other leftist parties, rather than the movement's own history & analysis.
While this is a valid supplementary argument, and one that speaks to the commitment of national liberation movements to seeking anti-colonial national unity in all the colors of the Palestinian flag, it cannot be the lodestar of a revolutionary alliance with the resistance.
The effects of overreliance on adherence to the positions of those who identify themselves as leftists or communists in a country is seen in the relatively weak levels of support, action & mobilizing currently, particularly in the imperial core, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This problem is attributable at a far greater scale to alignment with imperialism and refusal to support full-scale national projects that confront it head-on, or the effects of "State Department Socialism", but the former is a major tool of political warfare to block action.
Now, at this time, when many are aware of exactly how this form of reliance on self-identified leftist or communist forces as the (de)legitimizer of movements & states has been deeply damaging re: Iran, we must not replicate it for Palestine, Lebanon or the region as a whole.
For example, the Lebanese Communist Party issued a statement on March 3 that while correctly denouncing the Zionist invasion and assault on Lebanon, ALSO opposed Hezbollah's military response to over 15 months of fake ceasefire, weakening the front of the resistance.
The proper analysis of events in Lebanon is not to rely upon the statements of the LCP, despite its valiant history in the resistance in the 1970s and 1980s, the bravery and commitment of its fighters and prisoners through those years, or the good work done by many members today. It is essential for any revolutionary and anti-imperialist force today to support Hezbollah because it is, materially, one of the greatest anti-imperialist movements globally, in direct confrontation with imperialism & Zionism, dedicated to organizing & uplifting the oppressed.
The statements and perspectives of self-identified Lebanese leftist parties or individuals are only a sideline to the reality of Hezbollah's actual role in Lebanon & the world as a vanguard anti-imperialist, liberationist & internationalist movement.
Similarly, in relation to Palestine, there are a broad array of forces that identify themselves as leftists, and they are distinctly different from one another, including, of course, the Popular and Democratic Fronts, but also many include Hizb al-Shaab or even FIDA, or others.
These parties clearly do not share common lines in many cases, although they will also issue joint statements as "five left factions" from time to time. They have widely varying levels of involvement & complicity with the "Palestinian Authority".
The Popular Front is most widely recognized as a revolutionary Palestinian left faction (although the Democratic Front also participated in a significant military form in Gaza throughout Al-Aqsa Flood), and it has maintained a strong alliance w/other, larger resistance forces. At the same time, in 2007, the Front called upon Hamas to return the security buildings & offices to PA president Abu Mazen, after Hamas thwarted the attempted coup directed not only by Fateh but by US advisors. Those 2007 actions, taken of strict necessity, are what paved the road for Gaza's underground development and the military advancement of its resistance (while of course Gaza had been a centre of military resistance for decades).
On many occasions, various Palestinian left factions, including the Front, criticized Hamas, or the Gaza government, here or there, for, essentially, not allowing the PA to direct the future of major institutions in Gaza.
In some cases, leftist parties actually criticized Hamas for its developmentist policies in Gaza, such as taxing merchants on imports in order to promote local produce, focusing on tunnel development, or refusing to allow the PA to continue to direct institutions in Gaza.
These positions have changed over time. Organizations and parties are dynamic institutions, & change in relation to one another & developments in the world. Palestinian left parties pushed hard to prevent an "alternative to the PLO," despite the disaster that bears the name today.
Again, the purpose of the above is not to make the point about how Hamas, in all of these cases, was right, and the leftist organizations were wrong, but that an anti-imperialist, revolutionary analysis & alliance should base itself on reality, not mere reference -- especially in the context whereby many have little to no meaningful contact with these organization and/or may not have a clear understanding of how positions and policies are developed in relation to political alliances, rather than class or political principle.
For example, "trade unions" that Hamas was accused of "repressing" in one such post (and surely, if one goes back to the late 2000s, early 2010s, one will find statements from left factions making some such allegation) are simply Fateh organizations that act on behalf of the PA.
They do not represent the Palestinian working class, and have played a devastating role in the movement to organize Palestinian workers. The ranks of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are filled by the working classes & popular masses of Palestine, rooted in the refugee camps & villages.
Again, the alliance between the Islamic and left resistance and revolutionary forces in Palestine, today, is strong (although there are plenty of self-described leftist organizations that are not involved in such frameworks, and are attached to the PA as a project).
But if, in the future, this is not the case, it is critical that internationalists and anti-imperialists that seek to play a meaningful role as part of a global camp of the resistance are prepared to develop their relationships based on the reality of the vanguard movements today. The errors made in relation to understanding the Islamic Republic of Iran and its anti-imperialist role in the region, its approach to development, and its political system must not be repeated elsewhere, & not in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq or elsewhere in this region.
