"Do you condemn Hamas?" is a binary question about condemnation of Hamas, the Palestinian political and military organization governing the Gaza Strip since 2007. Since May 2010, supporters of Israel, reporters, and anchors have directed the question at critics of Israel and proponents of Palestine. The question became ubiquitous during the Gaza war following the October 7 attacks,[1][2] saturating Western media and becoming an Internet meme.[3]
Critics have said that the question minimizes Palestinian suffering,[3] or that supporters of Israel have used the question as a rhetorical tool to absolve Israel or stifle critique of it, or that it is a smear tactic to degrade and silence support for Palestine.[1][4] For others, it is a legitimate question that addresses what they perceive as a moral failure on the part of those who do not vocalize their condemnation of Hamas.[5]
History
On May 11, 2010, American conservative writer David Horowitz directed the question to a student at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).[2][6] The student who confronted Horowitz was a member of UCSD's Muslim Student Association, then holding Justice in Palestine Week, which students said Horowitz had referred to as "Hitler Youth Week".[2][6]
During the Gaza war, it became a common question in both Israeli and international media to ask for condemnation of Hamas and the October 7 attacks.[8] Pro-Palestinian activists described the question to The Forward as a tactic to start the narrative on October 7, omitting the events of preceding years, and is "meant to shut down discussion".[3]Mondoweiss writer James Ray stated that he did not; though he criticized the question as "muddling" expressions of solidarity and obscuring what they call a "colonial context" of the events.[9]Slavoj Žižek similarly dismissed the question as a distraction from Gazan civilian deaths, particularly child deaths.[10] Palestinian-American scholar Noura Erakat wrote that "any condemnation of violence is vapid if it does not begin & end with a condemnation of Israeli apartheid, settler colonialism, and occupation."[11]
The matter of the condemnation of Hamas became important to Israeli public diplomacy in the Gaza war. Governments,[12][13][14] corporations,[15] and public figures[16] from around the world have issued condemnations. The Yale School of Management's Chief Executive Leadership Institute published a "List of Companies That Have Condemned Hamas's Terrorist Attack on Israel", including over 200 companies, mostly from the North America and Europe.[15][17][18][19]
↑ Wrobel, Sharon (22 October 2023). "'Never again is now': German companies condemn Hamas terror, stand with Israel". Times of Israel. In a full-page ad published in major Sunday newspapers in Germany with the headline "Never again is now", the 106 undersigned companies, representing the bulk of the country's economy employing millions of workers, denounced antisemitism and Jew hatred.
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