Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told an interviewer with Al-Arabiya recently that, even given the destruction to Gaza and impact on Palestinians civilians over the past 13 months, he, in hindsight, has no regrets over his group’s decision to launch their barbaric massacre of men, women and children in Israel on Oct. 7th.
That is, while he naturally has no moral qualms with the mass murder, torture, rape and mutilation of Jews, he also has no second thoughts about their attack, even knowing what he knows now about the price paid by Palestinians in the territory.
Hamad, typical of fanatical terrorist sociopaths, has no remorse.
Of course, the idea that Hamas leaders should engage in self-reflection, or be held morally accountable, for their decision to launch the deadliest and (Trigger Warning) most sadistic antisemitic assault since the Holocaust, a massacre which also resulted in untold Palestinian misery, is never considered by the Guardian.
A case in point is an article at the outlet (“Palestinian artists plan Gaza Biennale as ‘act of resistance and survival’“, Nov. 25) by their international correspondent Julian Borger and Gaza-based Malak A Tantesh.
Here are the relevant paragraphs:
Palestinian artists in Gaza plan to stage a “biennale” exhibition as an act of defiance against Israel’s military onslaught and to focus attention on the plight of the territory’s 2.3 million people under more than 13 months of bombardment.
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About 50 artists from Gaza will exhibit their work within the besieged coastal strip, and are looking for art galleries to host exhibitions overseas.
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The idea is intended as an artistic proof of life in the face of an attempt to strip Gaza’s Palestinians of their humanity.
Whether these artists have the desire to use their artistic talents express “defiance” to the authoritarian regime in the territory is not mentioned – and, in fact, the word “Hamas” isn’t used once in the article.
Why is that? There are at least two major reasons.
First, while readers are told that “a quarter of the exhibiting artists managed to cross into Egypt earlier in the war“, it’s no doubt extremely risky for the Gaza-based artists to criticise Hamas. Palestinians creating art mocking or vilifying Hamas, or calling for the group to release the hostages and surrender, would be a true act of bravery and defiance.
Second, the European audiences they’re hoping to partner with would likely have little interest in hosting an exhibit by Gaza artists focusing on the the crimes of Hamas.
Such crimes against Palestinians include their hoarding of food and their use of civilians as human shields – as well as, in the years prior to the war, their diversion of untold millions in humanitarian aid to pay for hundreds of miles of terror tunnels and other military assets, and their torture of Palestinians detainees, including gays and those resisting Hamas rule.
Relatedly, outlets like the Guardian almost certainly wouldn’t devote any coverage to an art exhibit featuring Palestinian artists resisting Hamas.
So, when we argue that the Guardian’s coverage since Oct. 7th has been effectively pro-Hamas, we’re not merely referring to their obsessive vilification of Israel, and imputation of the worst possible motives to the state. We’re also referring to the outlet’s complete erasure of the motivations, decisions and actions of the Islamist terror group – a denial of agency that leaves their readers blind to the grave impact of their fanaticism on Palestinian civilians.
