"Since Israel does not differentiate between attacking this group or that, we are saying our people can work individually or collectively to face this aggression"
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The statement distills Ahmed Yassin's strategic framing at a time of intensified confrontation between Israel and Palestinian factions. As the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, Yassin sought to recast the asymmetry of power and the realities of Israeli military policy into a mandate for dispersed resistance. By claiming that Israel does not distinguish among Palestinian groups, he argues that Palestinians need not confine themselves to centralized organizations; action can be taken by individuals or informal clusters as well as formal movements.
That phrase, "individually or collectively", signals a shift toward decentralized tactics, anticipating lone actors and autonomous cells that are harder to preempt. It is both a pragmatic response to crackdowns that degrade command structures and a rhetorical move that lowers the threshold for participation. Such dispersal can sustain a movement under pressure, yet it also erodes accountability and blurs lines between combatants and non-combatants, with grave implications for civilians.
The context includes Israeli targeted killings, raids, and closures during the Second Intifada, measures Israel described as aimed at militants and infrastructure. However, civilian casualties and punitive conditions fed a widespread Palestinian perception of collective punishment. Yassin leverages that perception to unify disparate constituencies beyond factional divides, turning grievance into a broad permission structure for resistance.
The logic reflects classic dynamics of asymmetric conflict: the weaker side disperses to survive; the stronger side widens its security net. But the moral cost is steep. A framework that treats the adversary as indiscriminate easily becomes a warrant for indiscriminate retaliation, entrenching cycles of reprisal. It hardens identities, sidelines moderates, and narrows political space for de-escalation. Yassin's words thus operate on three levels at once: a justification for evolving tactics, a bid for popular legitimacy, and a stark illustration of how narratives of undifferentiated aggression can normalize a politics of perpetual emergency.
That phrase, "individually or collectively", signals a shift toward decentralized tactics, anticipating lone actors and autonomous cells that are harder to preempt. It is both a pragmatic response to crackdowns that degrade command structures and a rhetorical move that lowers the threshold for participation. Such dispersal can sustain a movement under pressure, yet it also erodes accountability and blurs lines between combatants and non-combatants, with grave implications for civilians.
The context includes Israeli targeted killings, raids, and closures during the Second Intifada, measures Israel described as aimed at militants and infrastructure. However, civilian casualties and punitive conditions fed a widespread Palestinian perception of collective punishment. Yassin leverages that perception to unify disparate constituencies beyond factional divides, turning grievance into a broad permission structure for resistance.
The logic reflects classic dynamics of asymmetric conflict: the weaker side disperses to survive; the stronger side widens its security net. But the moral cost is steep. A framework that treats the adversary as indiscriminate easily becomes a warrant for indiscriminate retaliation, entrenching cycles of reprisal. It hardens identities, sidelines moderates, and narrows political space for de-escalation. Yassin's words thus operate on three levels at once: a justification for evolving tactics, a bid for popular legitimacy, and a stark illustration of how narratives of undifferentiated aggression can normalize a politics of perpetual emergency.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
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