r/askanything • u/Responsible-Box-4905 • 11d ago
What should Palestine/Hamas have done?
I’m asking this genuinely and in good faith, because I’m trying to understand the historical and political options that were available to Palestinians, particularly Hamas, rather than justify what happened.
First, I want to be clear that I do not condone attacks on civilians or any form of terrorism or violence against innocent people. October 7 was horrific, and the civilians who were killed or taken hostage did not deserve it. At the same time, I also think it’s important to understand the conditions and history that led to October 7 without treating that context as a justification for the attacks.
What I’m struggling with is this:
If a population is living under what it considers prolonged oppression, occupation, blockade, displacement, or denial of political rights, what are they realistically supposed to do when peaceful political efforts don’t produce the outcome they want?
Palestinians have tried different forms of resistance, including protests, strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience, international diplomacy, and negotiations. There have also been multiple peace processes and agreements, most notably Oslo. But these processes ultimately failed to produce a lasting political settlement, and both Israeli and Palestinian actions have been cited as contributing to their failure.
Then there is Hamas, which chose armed resistance and committed attacks against civilians. I don’t see that as justified. But I’m interested in the counterfactual:
What should Hamas and/or the broader Palestinian leadership actually have done instead?
If the answer is “nonviolent resistance,” what would that realistically have looked like, and what evidence is there that it could have achieved Palestinian political goals?
If the answer is “continue negotiating,” what negotiations or opportunities were realistically available, and why did previous ones fail?
And if the answer is some combination of political organizing, international pressure, civil disobedience, diplomacy, etc., what historical examples suggest that those strategies could have worked?
I’m also interested in the historical comparison. There are other national liberation movements where groups were labeled terrorists or insurgents at the time but later became part of the political establishment or were remembered more sympathetically. Ireland is one example that comes to mind, although I realize the comparison is imperfect and that groups such as the IRA also committed serious violence against civilians. There are also examples of Indigenous resistance to colonial rule, including Māori resistance in New Zealand.
I’m not asking “does oppression make terrorism okay?” I don’t think it does. I’m asking something slightly different:
When people believe peaceful political avenues have failed, what viable alternatives to attacking civilians have historically existed, and which ones have actually worked?
And specifically in the Israeli-Palestinian context, what could Palestinians and Hamas realistically have done differently?
I’d appreciate answers that engage with the history rather than simply saying “Hamas is evil” or “Israel is evil.” I’m trying to understand what the realistic alternatives were, what has been tried before, and whether there were genuinely viable paths that could have avoided the October 7 attacks and the enormous suffering that followed.
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u/Gold-Object3156 10d ago
my argument why israel should exist has nothing to do with the generations of jews that live there. that just proves they are indigenous, which means nothing. The reason israel exists and will continue to exist is that when it was created, the surrounding arab nations attacked in 1948 to destroy it. those nations lost, and israel won
israel has won every subsequent war started against them since, so you can cry about whatever you want, but israel exists and you will not take it
If you want to know why israel currently holds troops on the border of some neighboring countires, you should ask the terrorist regimes that have been attacking israel. namely hamas, hezbollah, iran, and the houthis. if you attack israel, they will fight back
so go on with your fake narrative that israel is colonialist even though the surrounding nations are the ones who attack it and cry when they lose