Do you condemn Hamas?

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The flag of Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since taking power from Fatah during the Battle of Gaza after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg
The flag of Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since taking power from Fatah during the Battle of Gaza after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election.

"Do you condemn Hamas?" is a binary question that has been widespread in formal and informal debates concerning the Israeli–Palestinian conflict with regard to the Palestinian political and military organization that rose to power as the Gaza Strip government in 2007. Since 2010, pro-Israeli advocates, as well as several news or media personalities, have often directed the question at pro-Palestinian advocates, typically (but not exclusively) in response to criticism of Israel.

Contents

While it was present for a decade beforehand, it was not until after the October 7 attacks in 2023 that the question became ubiquitous in international political discussions about the ensuing Gaza war, [1] [2] particularly saturating Western media and eventually becoming an Internet meme among its critics. [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 Palestinians. [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 condemnation of Hamas. [5]

It has been described by Aleksandra Zoric at the University of Belgrade as "a sophisticated linguistic tool, carefully calibrated to function on multiple levels, as a performative speech act, a means for narrative framing, and a mechanism for public shaming and the imposition of a specific ideology". [6] Zoric describes the technique as a language game with a demand phrased as a question containing a persuasive definition by the questioner, concluding that it can "erode trust in the media and politicians, deepen polarization, and make nuanced and constructive debate on complex issues impossible. Public discourse is reduced to performative virtue signaling and moral posturing, where the goal is to discredit an opponent, not to understand the problem." [6]

History

Before 2023

On May 11, 2010, American conservative writer David Horowitz directed the question to a student at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). [2] [7] 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] [7]

The matter of condemning Hamas resurged in 2019, with relation to US Representative Ilhan Omar. [8] [ failed verification ]

Since 2023

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. [9] 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. [10] Slavoj Žižek similarly dismissed the question as a distraction from Gazan civilian deaths, particularly child deaths. [11] 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." [12]

The matter of the condemnation of Hamas became important to Israeli public diplomacy in the Gaza war. Governments, [13] [14] [15] corporations, [16] and public figures [17] 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. [16] [18] [19] [20]

Mehdi Hasan has criticized Piers Morgan for his frequent use of the question with pro-Palestinian guests on his show Piers Morgan Uncensored . [21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Riahi, Sarra. "How the West uses antisemitism to create support for Israel". The New Arab. Archived from the original on 2024-10-04. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  2. 1 2 3 Culture, Ryan Smith Senior Pop; Reporter, Entertainment (2023-10-12). "David Horowitz's "harrowing" Hamas exchange with student goes viral". Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
  3. 1 2 3 Silverstein, Andrew (2023-11-10). "'Do you condemn Hamas?' — why a seemingly legitimate question has become controversial". The Forward. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  4. ↑ "Attacks on ICC Show 'Condemning Hamas' Is Really About Absolving Israel". FAIR. 2024-05-29. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  5. ↑ Abramsky, Sasha (2023-10-12). "The Catastrophic Moral Failing of Those Who Won't Condemn Hamas". ISSN   0027-8378 . Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  6. 1 2 Zoric, Aleksandra (2025). "Beyond blame: The pragmatics of condemnation and moral action". Theoria, Beograd. 68 (3): 145–160. doi: 10.2298/THEO2503145Z . ISSN   0351-2274. By intertwining Austin's concept of illocutionary force, the strategic flouting of Grice's conversational maxims, Wittgenstein's language games, and Stevenson's persuasive definitions, this speech act becomes a powerful tool for controlling political discourse. The theoretical frameworks from the philosophy of language and communication theory have allowed us to reconstruct and better understand this phenomenon. Austin's theory revealed the illocutionary force of the directive and the perlocutionary goals that reach far beyond the answer itself. Grice's cooperative principle showed how refusing a direct answer, through strategies like whataboutism, can be a rational pragmatic move that points to a fundamental injustice in the communicative setup itself. Wittgenstein's language games helped us to understand the political interview as an arena with specific rules, where refusing to answer constitutes an attack on the very legitimacy of the game. Finally, the theories of persuasive definitions, framing, and agenda-setting have exposed the broader media and political context that precedes the question and gives it its power, turning it into the culmination of a carefully orchestrated strategy.
  7. 1 2 Lopez-Hodoyan, Katia (2010-05-17). "UCSD Student's Remark Triggers Controversy". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
  8. ↑ Foran, Clare; Raju, Manu (2019-02-10). "Ilhan Omar says it's 'exciting' her controversial views on Israel are sparking debate | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  9. ↑ "'Do you condemn Hamas?'". Middle East Monitor. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  10. ↑ Ray, James (2024-06-05). "Do you condemn Hamas?". Mondoweiss . Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  11. ↑ Žižek, Slavoj (2023-12-13). "THE GERMAN FAKE". Žižek Goads and Prods. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
  12. ↑ Barakat, Asma (2023-10-13). "Brief: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood". Institute for Palestine Studies . Archived from the original on 13 Oct 2023. Retrieved 2025-05-05.
  13. ↑ "Condemning Hamas' terrorism should not be controversial: UK at the UN General Assembly". GOV.UK. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  14. ↑ Rep. Owens, Burgess [R-UT-4 (2023-11-02). "Text - H.Res.798 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Condemning the support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education, which may lead to the creation of a hostile environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 5 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ "France and partners voice". France in the UK. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  16. 1 2 "List of Companies That Have Condemned Hamas' Terrorist Attack on Israel | Yale School of Management". som.yale.edu. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  17. ↑ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (2023-10-12). "Gal Gadot, Chris Pine and 700 Hollywood Figures Condemn Hamas, Demand Return of Hostages: 'This Is Terrorism. This Is Evil'". Variety . Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (12 October 2023). "Paramount Global, Skydance, David Zaslav and Hollywood Leaders Condemn Hamas Terrorist Attacks: 'We Stand with the People of Israel'". Variety.
  20. ↑ "Article - RBC".
  21. ↑ "Mehdi Hasan criticises Piers Morgan for his frequently asked question, 'Do you condemn Hamas?'". Middle East Monitor . 13 March 2024.
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