In an article titled "Fighting from Behind Civilians" on the Saudi news portal Elaph, Kurdish writer Kamil Salman criticized Hamas' operatives for hiding behind the civilian population in Gaza and thereby placing hundreds of thousands of people in mortal danger, a practice he called both foolish and cowardly. He added that Hamas' fighters are manipulated by foreign elements and do not recognize the value of human life.[1]
Kamil Salman (Image: Sotkurdistan.net)
The following are translated excerpts from his article:[2]
"The Palestinian combatant who fights his Israeli enemy is a brave fighter defending his right to his land. However, his courage loses credibility when he hides behind unarmed civilians. By doing so, this fighter presents the civilians with two options, both of which are grim: they must either guide the Israeli army to the Palestinian fighter’s hiding place – an act of betrayal that this great nation could not conceivably commit – or else remain silent despite knowing the fighter’s location, and pay the price for this. This is a catastrophe, because the Israeli enemy will treat the civilians as enemies who are harboring and collaborating with the armed combatants it is fighting, and therefore destroy the civilians’ homes, evict them and sometimes kill them.
"This scenario has repeatedly played out in Gaza, and it is now [also] occurring in the West Bank and in South Lebanon. When will the Palestinian fighter learn the lesson and distance himself from civilians, realizing that it is concentrations of innocent civilians that will be harmed? Is this [practice of] hiding [among civilians] a sign of military wisdom, or of growing stupidity? Is it courage or cowardice?
"O brave fighter, if you are fighting for your homeland, know that the homeland is not just the sand on the ground but also the lives and the honor of those unarmed, innocent people. Harming their honor and endangering their lives is tantamount to polluting the homeland. [So choose] one of two options: either perfect your courage by confronting your enemy face to face, and thus prevent the danger from reaching your family, your loved ones, your neighbors and those dear to you, or else put down your weapon. There are many ways to confront someone stronger than you, and wise people know them – but insisting on exposing civilians to danger is [just] recklessness and ignorance.
"Are 100,000 Gazans dead and wounded not enough for you? Are you hoping that your enemy will leave you alone if you hide behind civilians? Your enemy has been clear and explicit. It has repeatedly said that, if you hide behind civilians, the civilians will not be safe from harm – and it has repeatedly acted on this. Have you understood your enemy, or do you need more experience and more innocent victims in order to realize what your enemy is like?
"Oh jihad fighter, the method of hiding behind civilians is effective only when the civilians in question are the family members, loved ones or associates of the enemy army, not your own family members. Don't delude yourself that you did the right thing when you hid behind hundreds of thousands of people and [thus] saved your own life but placed their lives in danger. That is a dirty game that an honorable fighter should not engage in.
"They [i.e., Hamas] say they are doing this to blacken the name of the Israeli enemy and [demonstrate] its barbarity to the world. Ok, now that you have blackened the name of your Israeli enemy, what has this philosophy done for you? What has it done for the Palestinian people? You beg the humanitarian [aid] organizations to help children, pregnant women, the elderly and the sick. Yet the countries of the world witness your tragedies and do not even verbally condemn your enemy. On the contrary, most of them support Israel with money, weapons and propaganda. So perhaps you are blackening the enemy's name only in your own eyes?
"You remember very well all the Israeli civilians that were killed and captured on October 7, [2023], who are enough to blacken your name for decades to come. That was [a real act of] of blackening [someone's name]! That is how the wise and the strong play [the game]. And if you are neither strong nor wise, leave it to those who have gained 70 years of experience. The PLO leaders fought the enemy before you with patriotism and loyalty for many decades, until they turned to wise diplomacy as a way to regain their rights. They know more than you about the Palestinian cause and its sorrows, and they never betrayed their cause or accepted the patronage of others, as you are doing today.
"The Arab leaders who waged three large-scale wars with Israel never betrayed the Palestinian cause. On the contrary, they owned it and were zealously committed to it, but they realized the power, the might and the cunning of their enemy and worked to safeguard the honor of their peoples by shifting to diplomacy [as a way to advance] this cause. But you [jihad fighters] are just teenagers who are manipulated by foreign hands and do not understand the meaning of [preserving] the dignity of innocent, unarmed people. You will realize it when it is too late."
[1] It should be noted that, in a November 2023 article on Elaph, Salman held Hamas responsible for the bloodshed in Gaza and accused it of serving Iran's interests. He also wrote that Hamas' kidnapping of the Israeli hostages, especially the women and children, was an act of terror that harmed the Palestinian cause and could not be condoned by the international community. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10955 - Kurdish Writer: Hamas' Abduction Of Civilians Was An Act Of Terror That Harmed The Palestinian Cause – November 13, 2023.
[2] Elaph.com, Septepber 1, 2024.
