I think this one quote leaves out some important context on this conversation.
Here's the full conversation: https://twitter.com/DarkMatter2525/status/1744855281735967130
Darkmatter takes a relatively neutral position (as compared to usual stances in the US):
Hamas needs to be dealt with, but I dislike how Israel is doing it.
I've always been against the idea of an ethnostate, regardless of who is doing it.
I'm also against Europeans kicking natives off the land that would become my home, the United States, but there's no unringing either bell. New generations have been born & raised in both places. Today, it would be just as wrong to remove either.
His dislike of Hamas probably stands from it being a religio-political organization and his atheist stance. He basically seems to support a one-state solution where both 'Israelis' and Palestinians are welcome without stating so explicitly, which is not a bad position to take compared to most liberals.
People like him with this position are possible allies, so I don't think they should be denounced outright.
Imo if you're "neutral" where there's genocide involved you are on the side of the oppressor.
It doesn't really matter what your personal opinions of religion are (I'm also atheist, I actually watched a bunch of this guy's videos as well), the material reality is that Hamas has the support of the people, so you saying you "dislike" Hamas, the only group that's actively fighting the Zionists (of course that includes Ansarallah and Hezbollah), who, once again, has the support of the people, because you can't stand the idea of it being a religious organization, you're really just saying "both sides bad" with extra steps.
I'm also against Europeans kicking natives off the land that would become my home, the United States, but there's no unringing either bell. New generations have been born & raised in both places. Today, it would be just as wrong to remove either.
Huh, too bad that isn't your choice, colonizer. Doesn't matter if we can't "uNrInG tHe bElL" (whatever the fuck that dumb shit means), you continue to benefit off the backs of the colonized people who built your "home", and the same goes for Israel.
Cracker shit like this gets eviscerated every time, we ain't got time for this in 2024.
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
Desmond Tutu
Thank you, now is not the time for balancing acts if ever there was a time for one. Wow, the people resisting their genocide have some less than ideals views. May be if they weren't orphans busy fighting tanks they could have learned buzz words from an ivy league.
Idealist western brained nonsense. If US propaganda had poisoned his brain for decades with the notion that Hamas was good, was the welcoming religious org, was tolerant, etc instead of the opposite of scary terrorist brown people he'd have an entirely different tune.
Hamas does not need to be dealt with. Period. Termination of thought.
That framing suggests they instigated the situation, they caused the problem which is a lie and shows his misunderstanding of the situation. Fascist zionist settlers caused the problem. Fascist zionist settlers already conducted one mass wave of genocide (decades ago when setting up their fake state) and have been violating the UN partition ever since, encroaching on Palestinian lands, building more settler enclaves, encouraging settler violence. Gaza is an open air prison. Hamas was originally supported by the zionist occupation as a way to de-legitimize the Palestinian struggle, to paint them all as extremists. But Hamas was chosen by the people of Gaza.
So instead the correct framing is the zionist occupation needs to be dealt with. The zionist occupation that shot peaceful marchers in the knees and maimed them for life at the wall during the peaceful march of return and has been murdering and oppressing the Palestinian people and stealing their lands for decades needs to be dealt with. You deal with that and the Palestinian people are free to choose any number of paths with or without Hamas.
Palestinians have a RIGHT to resist, including violently. That Hamas is less than perfect in his gaze does not change the fact their greatest "crimes" amount to resisting for and in the name of the Palestinian people. It's not like Hamas is notorious for going out of its way to find and kill every gay person and that's why western media has taught him to hate them. No, western media hates them because they are the boogeyman that at one time Isn'treal wanted, because they resist violently and successfully and put fascists in the ground.
If he wants to be upset at religious extremists, he's upset at the wrong ones, it's the zionist religious extremists he should be upset about and the Christian ones aiding them. Hamas is merely a reaction and if he were well read, not buying the propaganda he'd know that.
People like him with this position are possible allies, so I don’t think they should be denounced outright.
Though I imagine you don't mean that he shouldn't be critiqued, right?
In which case I agree, and in Western countries this is a material necessity if you're trying to build labor power. This is a common opinion that has to be engaged with when working with unions or otherwise participating in direct action. Minds must be changed as we build solidarity.
I definitely agree that his views should be critiqued, I just think that we should do so while having productive conversations with said people so that they can become allies
In the above convo, ZephyrFrost could have had an interesting conversation with Darkmatter on the nature of the one-state solution that he tacitly proposes. Instead, Zephyr spends the entire time calling him a 'genocide denier' unless he says exactly what Zephyr wants, wrecking the convo and making all of us look bad.
While the positions we take must be principled, the conversations we have with others should be non-confrontational and understanding, so that we can turn them into allies and not enemies. After all, deprogramming capitalist propaganda is a delicate operation.
Darkmatter plays an important role in deconverting fascist evangelical Christians and making them ever even consider leftism, so it's not like he's an enemy.
Of course, if someone really wants to "kill all brown people", there's no point in having a conversation with fascists.
