Decolonizing Palestine: Hamas between the Anticolonial and the Postcolonial

by Somdeep Sen

In Decolonizing Palestine, Somdeep Sen rejects the notion that liberation from colonialization exists as a singular moment in history when the colonizer is ousted by the colonized. Instead, he considers the case of the Palestinian struggle for liberation from its settler colonial condition as a complex psychological and empirical mix of the colonial and the postcolonial. Specifically, he examines the two seemingly contradictory, yet coexistent, anticolonial and postcolonial modes of politics adopted by Hamas following the organization's unexpected victory in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council election.

Despite the expectations of experts, Hamas has persisted as both an armed resistance to Israeli settler colonial rule and as a governing body. Based on ethnographic material collected in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Israel, and Egypt, Decolonizing Palestine argues that the puzzle Hamas presents is not rooted in predicting the timing or process of its abandonment of either role. The challenge instead lies in explaining how and why it maintains both, and what this implies for the study of liberation movements and postcolonial studies more generally.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Research, Political Science

245 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 15, 2020

Reviews

[Sleepless Dreamer]

In theory, Israel's Independence Day and Palestine's Nakba Day are on the same date. However, Israel goes by the Jewish calendar and so, they rarely intersect. I'm always going to wonder if the Palestinians knew this when they picked the date. Were they disappointed by the loss of symbolism?

In other news, the last few days have been exhausting in essentially every aspect. Education seems to take an unfair toll. Review to come!


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Will this book make excuses for bombing Israeli civilians? Probably. Do I still want to read it? Yup.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great analysis of the role of Hamas regarding both anti-colonial resistance and post colonial government. Sen applies Fanon and Nkrumah on the Palestinian struggle for liberation. This book really shows you every relevant point of view regarding the liberation of Palestine and current government of the West Bank and Gaza. Would recommend this to everyone concerned with the cause.

[Asem Khalil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of the way Hamas in Gaza played the dual role of anti-colonial resistance and post colonial governance. Bringing Palestine experience and history to its global context is an amazing work of art. A must read.

[SusyG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penso sia uno dei saggi più interessanti letti quest'anno 👀 Somdeep Sen ragiona su Hamas in un contesto anticoloniale (con la sua lotta) e in un contesto postcoloniale (con il suo governo). Raccogliendo le parole di civili (sia pro che critici) e di membri del governo della Striscia, raccontando in parte la storia più recente della Palestina, l'autore cerca di mostrare le contraddizioni di un gruppo politico-militare che cerca di governare (non in maniera perfetta) e di liberarsi allo stesso tempo. Ci sono tantissimi riferimenti a Fanon e ad altre lotte di liberazione dal colonialismo, qualche volta è un po' ripetitivo (e l'edizione italiana dovrebbe avere un editing migliore) ma trovo che sia un testo che fa riflettere moltissimo! 🍉

[fizz · Rating 3 out of 5]

so repetitive

[João Nunes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author proposes the justification of Hamas ontologically as an unavoidable part of postcolonialized Palestine and its anticolonial struggle.
The premise sounds great! I do agree with the idea of the book, and with what it tries to to deliver. But as you go on you'll see that most of what's written about what Hamas does and why will be categorically (in a Kantian way) shelved into concepts such as "Fanonian" and "Weberian". There's not much of a connection with the history of anticoloniasm and postcoloniasm around the world. Also, it's terribly repetitive, once the author delivers the main idea he doesn't seem to be able to reach real conclusion.
I don't think this is the way to discuss Hamas or Palestine, I don't think these arguments can be put to use in our daily life struggle, and... I don't think you'll learn a lot of from it.
Stay strong, Palestine

[Fin]

Somdeep Sen's "Decolonizing Palestine" analyses Hamas and its role in Gaza through the lens of the anticolonial and postcolonial; the former manifested in violent resistance to a colonial occupier, the latter in the state-like structures operating as if the act of formal decolonisation had already occured. The contradictory co-existence of these two moments are traced back to the Oslo Accords, which granted the Palestinian Authority sufficient symbolic sovereignty to posture as a postcolonial government while materially leaving the oppressive colonial apparatus intact. In this trajectory, as Sen understands it, the anti- and postcolonial inform each other; Hamas posturing as a postcolonial state generates and reinforces a collective Palestinian subjectivity which drives anticolonial resistance, while anticolonial acts must continue well beyond the singular moment of formal decolonisation (with reference to the ongoing processes of decolonisation, mental and material, of postcolonial states such as India and Zimbabwe).

Though the overarching thesis is interesting and some parts were insightful, I finished the booked feeling disappointing. My biggest issue was what felt like an over-theorisation of the subject matter. While I was interested in learning about the concrete socio-political context within which Hamas operates in Gaza, the author seemed more interested in weaving their theory of the anti- and postcolonial; it often felt like sociological theoretical niceties came at the expense of actual content. Though, for example, references to Fanon's theory of violence are clearly relevant, in the text they felt abstracted from the reality of Palestinian life and politics. The rich interviews with Palestinian officials and civilians felt awkwardly interpreted to support the central theoretical argument of the text instead of being evaluated on their own terms.

I also missed a more critical engagement with the idea of violence against Palestinians being generative in the long run, especially as it is central to Hamas' justification for violent resistance. Though some interviewees themselves reflected on the violence enacted against them in this manner, this could equally be read as a desperate attempt to assign meaning to an intrinsically meaningless traumatic event in hindsight. In the context of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the idea of such horrific violence being anything but destructive feels hard to contend.

Unfortunately, the argumentation was also very repetitive and made for difficult reading. The coexistence of and relationship between the anti- and postcolonial were explained again and again in essentially the same terms!

This is not to say the book is entirely bad or has nothing to contribute - I just feel the argument could have been made in a long-form essay, or as a book with a greater emphasis on concrete Palestinian realities.

[Andrew Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read on Hamas but this one is interested in investigating the dialectical relationship between Anticolonial resistance and Postcolonial governance. I thought the theorization was very insightful to understanding the relationship between the two and how they complement and develop one another. The author draws on the works from Frantz Fanon because it is applicable even to this day in understanding how colonization completely attempts to annihilate the native materially and culturally.

I appreciated the perspectives of Gazans the author interviewed who did not all have a rosy view of governance under Hamas. Hamas has enormous popularity but they are not perfect and have detractors within Gaza. That being said, by the author, they call it a Palestinian problem and are united around their national identity even under colonial siege and occupation. I may not agree with all Hamas methods but their conditions in Gaza (even before the genocide) made it exceedingly difficult to maintain social cohesion. It's a testament to Palestinian steadfastness and Hamas literally doing mass line work that kept the people together. I do understand the necessity of united social order and not allowing dissent when under a siege. In other conditions it's not something I like but otherwise they risked complete annihilation by the zionists.

The author draws on history of other decolonial struggles and how there is this issue of trying to build a state while under colonization. One instance reminded me of how the Chinese communists had to govern liberated zones before the victory against the nationalists. Hamas is trying the same. It's what they have available to them even if it is imperfect.

One very important point at the end chapter is what does liberation entail? Is it merely the expulsion of the colonizer? The author argued that it is just one large step but the real liberation begins after that. Ridding ourselves of the colonization of our minds and society. The author draws on experience of how his grandfather in India still wanted to be English and that you can't completely shake the history of the colonizer. Whether through language or history. You cannot return to the past before colonization. The damage is done. What must happen in Fanon's view is building of a new culture that includes elements of the colonial days. Just as the Indian cannot simply shake the English language away so too can the Palestinian not shake the Zionist colonization of culture. How to resolve the settlers and other Nazi elements in zionist society will be an arduous task after the occupation is expelled. The road to liberation is never ending. It is never complete. It is only built and advanced.

[Saad Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Today I dream only in English, I am unable to conduct a conversation solely in Bengali (my native tongue), and at the orientation meeting in Budapest, felt that it was not enough to be just Indian. The colonizer withdrew thirty-seven years before I was born. But am I a liberated individual if I struggle to embrace my indigeneity in this manner? Can my grandfather be deemed liberated when being English remained such an integral facet of his identity? Can a national people claim to be liberated if they remain economically dependent, despite having secured political independence?”

An incredibly insightful analysis of the effects of colonization and the long, uneven process of undoing those effects (if that’s even possible). Though published before October 7th, every point made in this book still stands (and in many cases takes on even more resonance) thanks to how incredibly well-researched the book is. The author incorporates on-the-ground interviews with Palestinian civilians in Gaza as well as Hamas officials, conducting an anthropological investigation on how humans behave when subjected to the pressure cooker of colonization. Essential reading for anyone looking for a more human understanding of Israel-Palestine, or of the psychological effects of colonialism in general.

[Salvo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sen racconta Hamas come soggetto politico, analizzandone la componente anticoloniale di lotta per la liberazione dal colonialismo di insediamento israeliano, e la sua gestione postcoloniale della Striscia di Gaza assediata.
"È difficile predire il futuro della Striscia di Gaza", si legge a un certo punto dei libro, e mai come oggi, mentre Israele porta avanti il genocidio del popolo palestinese, è difficile predirlo. Ma proprio per questo risulta importante restituire valore alla lotta anticoloniale: le capacità di Hamas sono lontanissime dal distruggere l'"altro", ma servono a mettere in discussione la praticabilità del progetto coloniale.
I concetti espressi nel libro sono un po' troppo ripetitivi, ma meritano comunque di essere letti.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saggio di ricerca etnografica a Gaza, spesso un po' tecnico, ho sentito che mi tornavano utili persino gli esami in semiotica per dire.
Un po' di noccioli interessanti, soprattutto la coesistenza di uno stato postcoloniale guidato da un gruppo anticoloniale all'interno di una condizione di colonialismo di insediamento.
Da qui l'analisi dei discorsi sulla violenza, la necessità di continuamente costruire l'identità palestinese che i colonizzatori vogliono far sparire non solo fisicamente ma anche da qualsiasi discorso storico.
E un sacco di riferimenti utili

E un capitolo finale che allarga alla questione della liberazione in molte parti del globo con tot esempi e materiale autobio

[feux d'artifice · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read! The book takes us thru decolonial analysis via anti colonial lens and post colonial lens (to simplify: anti colonial lens from Hamas' militant wing and post colonial lens from Hamas' governance wing) the way the author wrote this book was to also inject his lived experience into segments of the book which I generally prefer vs non fiction books that try to pretend the writer self is a non factor.

I think for me one of the most interesting conclusion was at the last chapter about liberation, and that the act of resistance is to form a decolonial identity.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colonialismo, anticolonialismo e postcolonialismo. La costruzione di sé che passa attraverso la costruzione della propria Nazione. La lotta e la politica.
Un saggio interessante che aiuta a comprendere

[Farida · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got absolutely nothing out of this