For many of Palestine’s supporters in the world, Hamas is a “resistance movement.” It is the armed faction that fires rockets at Israel, that refuses to bow to a siege (the same siege to which it contributed) and bombardment, that speaks the loudest in the name of Palestinian liberation. For millions of people across the Arab world and beyond, this heroic conception of the organization carries genuine emotional weight. Palestine is occupied. Gaza has been blockaded and bombed. And Hamas, whatever its methods, has refused to surrender. In certain circles, Hamas’ stamina alone is enough to confer legitimacy, even glory.
Yet how a power acts towards its enemies does not necessarily reflect how it feels about its own people. And the portrait of Hamas as the protector of Palestinians, as the defiant shield of Palestinian resistance — however powerful it may be for the purposes of propaganda — collapses the moment you look closely at what Hamas has actually done to the Palestinians whom it governs.