Iranian support for Hamas highlights legitimacy of armed resistance against colonisation
Local Editor
Citing the Telegraph, Israeli media is once again fuelling speculation about the network of tunnels created by Hamas in Gaza – this time within the context of Iranian aid to the resistance movement. “Intelligence sources” have alleged that Iran has sent “tens of millions of dollars to help rebuild the network of tunnels in Gaza destroyed by Israel’s invasion last summer.”
Last March the Times of Israel reported that Hamas has embarked upon constructing a new tunnel network which does not extend into territory colonised by Israel. Reconstructing the tunnel network was also utilised as a premise by Israel to enforce restrictions upon allowing building materials into Gaza; hence the conspiracy between the settler-colonial state, the PA, the Palestinian unity government and the UN, which has inflicted additional humiliation and hardships upon Palestinians in the enclave.
The necessity of conjuring “enemies”, however, remains ingrained within Israeli political rhetoric. While the international community currently lauding its efforts in securing a nuclear framework deal with Iran, Israel has embarked upon a new propaganda campaign that attempts to impose a colonial agenda which consists of expounding upon the “Iranian threat” both as a solitary entity as well as within the context of Palestinian resistance.
After the publicity allocated to the declassified Pentagon report regarding Israel’s nuclear research in the 1970s and 1980s, Israel has now intensified its security rhetoric agenda while purposely distorting narratives to retain its hypocritical pedestal. Apart from insisting that the final deal should include a clause forcing Iran to recognise Israel, Israeli officials are still apparently contemplating possible military intervention against Iran.
The international community has long since differentiated between two main forms of reconstruction by separating the humanitarian aspect – the rebuilding of dwellings and infrastructure destroyed during Operation Protective Edge, and the logistical aspect necessary for Palestine to protect the remnants of its territory as well as its people. Under international law, armed resistance against colonialism is legitimate, yet the UN has practically deemed colonialism to be obsolete, in order to safeguard Israel’s presence in the Middle East and, in turn, punish Palestinians for resisting.
If the reports are true, Iran is fulfilling an internationalist role that has been rendered obsolete since Cuban support for anti-colonial struggle in previous decades. The UN has intentionally failed Palestine out of its allegiance to Israel. On the contrary, Iran is upholding international law through its support for Palestinian resistance and, most importantly, recognising the necessity of rebuilding a tunnel network that has served for military, humanitarian and economic purposes. Iran has managed to sever UN and Israeli expectations that Palestinians succumb to the conglomeration of terror concocted by the settler-colonial state.
While Israel will seize the opportunity to expand its military jargon directed against Iran and Hamas, both as separate entities and within the support meted out to the resistance movement, Iran has illustrated the significance of international law away from imperialist interpretations that facilitate Israel’s colonial violence against Palestinians. Insisting upon reconstructing Gaza while neglecting the necessary reconstruction of the tunnel network renders the whole process of humanitarian aid farcical and incomplete.
Source: Middle East Monitor
