In conflicts, unless perception of opponents is re-defined, claims as to who is worthy, who unworthy are repeated and resolution remains elusive.

In accounts of Israeli slaughter and famine in the so-called “war” in Gaza, the concept of an unworthy, terrorist Hamas remains the hub of Western media reporting and the rationale for Israel’s continuing brutalities.

A succession of articles in P&I have debunked this interpretation of the Gaza genocide, but the daily, here today gone tomorrow appearance of even the most valuable arguments somehow hinder the task of redefining Hamas and taking seriously the pleas that a peace force could end Israeli brutalities.

Reference to past analyses by P&I authors reminds one that think-again perspectives about Hamas and about peace, already exist. A reality-based interpretation of recent history requires a return to such judgments.

Redefining Hamas

In her 4 August article, _Palestinians have a history of oppression long before 7 October 2023_, Leonie Liveris reminds that the Hamas attacks did not emerge out of an empty space, but followed years of indiscriminate arrests of men, women and children, destruction of homes, hospitals, sewage and water plants, thousands held in notorious prisons, tortured, also most starved and denied medical care. She asked, where do the media bother to read the history of this tragic country?’

My 27 May 2024 analysis, _Israel and Hamas: no moral equivalence_, reminded that the ICC list of war crimes charges against Hamas included the same charges against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant. The context of Hamas crimes in 2023 must include an understanding of violent events since 1948: 33 well-documented massacres of Palestinians by Israeli terrorist gangs and the IDF. As a political force, Hamas only appeared in 2006.

Still, the demonisation of Hamas is used to justify Israeli policies and propaganda, including claims that food would reach starving Gazans if it was not stolen by Hamas. To answer that charge, USAid examined 150 reported incidents involving theft or loss of US funded humanitarian aid in Gaza, but failed to find that Hamas had engaged in any widespread diversion of aid.

Then we come to politicians advancing arguments for the recognition of Palestine, by insisting, in compliance with whatever Israel wants, that Hamas can’t be included in any subsequent government of Gaza. In a comprehensive, erudite P&I piece of 10 August, _Justice for Palestine, why Hamas must be involved_, Kym Davey writes that while the Israeli state plays victim to a gullible Western media, the IDF perpetuates genocide before our eyes. He also shows that definitions of Hamas as a terrorist organisation, that are taken for granted, are used to disqualify that group from even being consulted about government in their own country.

In his 19 August advocacy in P&I, _The response to recognition_, Paul Heywood-Smith pursues the Kym Davey findings. He debunks the Zionist lobby claim that recognising Palestine rewards Hamas and shows that in proposals about government in Palestine, Hamas has been prepared to stand aside for the Palestinian Authority. He explains that the Hamas position is totally consistent with international law as stated by the ICJ’s July 2024 ruling that Israel is illegally occupying the West Bank and Gaza.

Responses to peace force proposals

Given Israeli dogma that the complete annihilation of Hamas is the only means of freeing hostages and taking steps towards peace, it follows that redefining Hamas affects chances of taking seriously proposals that an international peace force enter the Gaza Strip, save lives and confront Israel. But governments, which say they are serious about peace, still don’t want to impose sanctions on Israel, let alone be seen to advocate direct intervention against an abusive violent state.

To imagine peace with justice for violated, long-suffering Palestinians, advocates of a peace force are brave and should be known. Bernard Keane, influential political editor of Crikey, addressed this issue when he asked, What do Western countries actually intend to do about a genocidal government protected by the US?

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian poet, Mosab Abu Toha, insists that Palestinians must be the ones asked about initiatives affecting their future. In an interview with Jon Stewart from the US program The Weekly Show, he said, “I hope that the international community would step in and send a peace force.” To describe conditions which merit such intervention he quoted from his poem, Under The Rubble.

‘’Where should people go? Should they build a ladder and go up? But heaven has been blocked by the drones and F-16s and the smoke of death.

“In Gaza our bodies and rooms get crushed, nothing remains for the soul, even our souls they get stuck under the rubble for weeks.”

In his 18 August P&I advocacy, _Boots on the ground: why Australia must support a UN peace keeper mission to Gaza_, Ayman Qwaider recalls that his beloved sister, her family and his cousins had been killed by the IDF. He reminds that for survivors there is neither food nor water in Gaza, “Intervention to halt the US-backed and funded Israeli decimation of a people is imperative.”

As if opposition to peace force intervention depends on the fearfulness, inconsistency and hypocrisy of Western governments, peace forces have been offered to enhance the security of Ukrainians. As part of a “Coalition of the Willing”, UK Prime Minister Starmer says “up to 30,000 troops from several nations could be deployed as part of a long-term leave keeping force”.

In the international relations business of defining and redefining what is desirable and possible, there is no “Coalition of the Willing” to end slaughter, famine, genocide in Gaza and on the West Bank. Why?

Arguments about redefining Hamas need to be revived, so too reasons for governments to abide by the principle “The Responsibility To Protect and the rulings of the International Court of Justice to end Israeli Occupation immediately.”

Perhaps shame could discourage even Israeli supporters from referring to Hamas as the great scapegoat whose presence justifies more slaughter. Perhaps Western politicians and their media representatives could become brave advocates for the long overdue arrival of a peace force in Gaza.

Perhaps shame might affect attitudes and understanding of the shame referred to in the UN aid chief’s recent report that catastrophic levels of food insecurity affect over half a million Gazans, famine conditions never before seen in the Middle East. This, he says, ‘Is a moment of collective shame… Everyone owns this. The Gaza famine is the world’s famine. It is a famine that asks ‘what did you do?’"

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.