BarcelonaPalestinian professor Tareq Baconi (Amman, 1983) is one of the researchers who knows Hamas and its leaders best. He has worked in reference research centers such as the International Crisis Group and is one of the editors of the Journal of Palestine Studies. He chairs the New York-based Al-Shabaka Center for Palestinian Studies. A prolific academic career that is reflected in the book Hamas: rise and pacification of the Palestinian resistancewhich Capitán Swing has just republished in Spanish. Answer ARA questions by video call from South Africa.
Were you also taken by surprise by the attacks on October 7?
— Yes, it was a surprise. I knew that Hamas remained ideologically committed to armed resistance, but I thought that it could do nothing because of the harshness of the Israeli blockade. I was more surprised by the weakness of the Israeli army. Hamas himself was surprised. I believe that Hamas prepared a much more limited operation, which was aimed at the military bases surrounding the Gaza Strip and maybe even to kidnap Israeli military personnel and open a negotiation. And it seems to me that Hamas lost control of the operation. Because in the end there were other factions involved and also civilians, and there were the kibbutzim and the Nova festival… which I don’t think Hamas even knew existed. From a political point of view, they were trying to show that the Palestinian issue has not been defeated and that the blockade was unsustainable. And they wanted to send the message to the regimes in the region that they could not normalize relations with Israel.
Hamas lost control of the operation against Israel on October 7 last year, because in the end other factions and also civilians were involved”
In his book he describes Hamas as a political movement that cannot be compared to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State.
— Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State are transnational movements that use violence without a political agenda. But Hamas is a nationalist movement committed to the liberation of Palestine, and it is an anti-colonial movement. If we remove the Islamist ideology of Hamas, we find the same political driving factors that the Palestine Liberation Organization had, which is a secular organization. The terrorist label serves to legitimize Israel’s actions and removes responsibility for dealing with Hamas politically.
The political agenda of Hamas has been changing since its origin. Although he has never recognized the state of Israel, he accepts a Palestinian state only on the borders of 1967. But this has not helped him to be accepted as an interlocutor.
— Since the Second Intifada (2002-2005), Hamas has been proposing political compromises: it has offered a long-term truce in exchange for a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, it has committed to unity governments and involved in democratic processes. After that they were met not only with silence from Israel and the international community, but with active opposition. So, after winning the democratic elections, the US and Israel tried to foment a coup and a civil war. This led them to the conclusion that the only useful form of resistance is the military.
The stated goal of the Netanyahu government is to eliminate Hamas. After a year of war, is he close to achieving it?
— This goal is unattainable. And I’m not saying it, it’s being said by top Israeli military and security officials, who understand that Hamas is not only an organized movement, but also an ideology. Militarily, Israel is not winning the war either. It becomes difficult to say this with more than 40,000 dead Palestinians, but, looking at it coldly, on the military front Israel has not been able to achieve any of its goals. The vast majority of hostages were released through negotiation during the truce, and very few by military means. The military objective is not at all clear. What is clear is that Netanyahu wants to avoid a ceasefire, because it would make it difficult for him to stay in power. This is the only reason why the genocide is still going on. For months now, Hamas has stated unequivocally that it agrees to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a permanent ceasefire. And Netanyahu’s government is willing only for a temporary ceasefire. The message is: we’ll give you your prisoners, give us back our hostages, and then we’ll continue the genocide.
Eliminating Hamas is unattainable, because Hamas is not only an organized movement, but also an ideology.”
Hamas has accepted Biden’s cease-fire plan.
— The problem is that the US is not really interested in this proposal. Biden has given Israel carte blanche to continue the genocide, and not just with his rhetoric, but with weapons, diplomatic and economic support. What is incredible is that in Washington they know that genocide is not in their interest but they allow Netanyahu to keep shooting.
How do you explain the assassination in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the top official of Hamas?
— This is an old Israeli tactic: execute the leadership in an attempt to weaken Hamas. It didn’t work before and I don’t think it will work now. It is clear evidence that Israel does not want a ceasefire: when you seek a deal you do not kill the key negotiator. Now, instead of Haniyeh, there is Yahya Sinwar, and if he is killed too, another leader will emerge. Hamas is a fairly democratic organization internally in which there are very broad consultations on strategic decisions. But the change of leader will be important, because now the decision-making is back inside Gaza and because it is back in the military wing.
You describe the two-state solution as a corpse…
— Look, I don’t think there is any possibility for a two-state solution. It exists only in the language of political leaders. On the ground, there has been a one-state reality for decades. The Israelis know it and so do the Palestinians. From the Israeli side, now at the highest level of government, they voted in the Knesset that there will never be a Palestinian state. On the other hand, the Palestinian Authority claims that it wants a two-state solution, but it is a completely irrelevant body at the moment. And most Palestinians really want freedom from the river to the sea. There are only two options: genocide, apartheid and Jewish supremacy, or a state for all citizens, with equal rights.
Source: www.ara.cat
