Statelessness and political evil — Hannah Arendt’s theories echo in the banality of violence in Gaza

A total of 61 million tonnes of debris, some of it poisoned with asbestos and chemicals, stands where neighbourhoods once stood, where children walked to school, where families gathered for iftar (breaking of the fast) or where merchants called out their prices.

Drone footage reveals the truth that those on the ground already know deep in their bones: 78% of everything has been destroyed. Entire city blocks have been erased, as if a giant hand reached down and wiped them out of existence.

The numbers pile up like the rubble: 66,000 Palestinians will never return. They will never rebuild. They will never tell their stories. Among them are 20,179 children.

Another 170,105 carry wounds in their flesh, missing limbs, shattered bones, burns, and shrapnel embedded in organs. These numbers don’t account for the trauma that will echo through generations.

The infrastructure of life itself has been dismantled. Thirty-four of the 36 hospitals were destroyed or damaged, 92% of schools require complete reconstruction; an entire generation’s education reduced to rubble. Eighty-three percent of mosques were damaged or destroyed. More than 1.9 million people have been displaced, many repeatedly. They carry what they can: a photograph, a child’s toy, a cooking pot, keys to a house that no longer exists.

Making sense of all this destruction is impossible. This is a testament to what humanity can destroy when it sets its mind to it. 

It is a genocide

It wasn’t acceptable at the start of the war in Gaza to refer to what was happening as genocide. There was extensive criticism of South Africa when it presented its case at the International Court of Justice. However, in the aftermath of such terrible injury, death and destruction, many more people, including the largest professional organisation of scholars studying genocide, have said that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza.

The determination by the International Association of Genocide Scholars, which includes several Holocaust experts, says: “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.”

The scholars’ resolution accused Israel of crimes including “indiscriminate and deliberate attacks against the civilians and civilian infrastructure” in Gaza and called on Israel to “immediately cease all acts that constitute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

Hannah Arendt, a prominent 20th-century political theorist, had complex views on Zionism and the establishment of the State of Israel. Her views were deeply influenced by the events of the Holocaust and the immediate postwar period. Aren­­dt believed that thinking should be grounded in everyday reality: “I have always believed that no matter how abstract our theories may sound or how consistent our arguments may appear, there are incidents and stories behind them which, at least for ourselves, contain in a nutshell the full meaning of whatever we have to say.

“Thought itself – to the extent that it is more than a technical, logical op­­eration which electronic machines may be better equip­­ped to perform than the human brain – arises out of the actuality of incidents, and incidents of living experience must remain its guideposts, to which thinking soars, or to which it descends.”

Arendt was particularly critical of the way Zionism was implemented and of the treatment of the Palestinians during the establishment of the State of Israel. At the time, she was concerned about the displacement of Palestinians and the impact on the region. In her view, the implementation of the Zionist project went against her ideals of a secular, pluralistic society based on mutual respect and coexistence.

Militarisation

She was also critical of the militarisation and nationalism that she saw as emerging in Israel, fearing that this would lead to a loss of Jewish ethical and intellectual traditions. Arendt believed that the Jewish people should strive for a universal solution to their oppression rather than a national one.

These views led her to support a binational state where Jews and Arabs could live together, rather than a Jewish state.

Hannah Arendt. (Photo: Hac.bard.edu)

Arendt’s views were not popular and changed over time. She was committed to Jewish welfare but also believed in the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people. Her writings on Zionism and the Middle East reflect her broader philosophical inquiry into the nature of power, violence and the human condition.

Her political theories offer significant insight into the current situation in Gaza, particularly through her concepts of statelessness, human rights and political evil.

Arendt’s work on the dangers of statelessness and the importance of the “right to have rights” is highly relevant to the Palestinian situation. Statelessness leads to a lack of legal protection and political representation, which is a critical issue for many Palestinians in Gaza. Arendt’s exploration of political evil, particularly her concept of the “banality of evil”, provides a framework for understanding the systemic and bureaucratic nature of violence and oppression. This concept can be applied to analyse the conflict and the actions of both state and non-state actors in Gaza. The bureaucratic and impersonal nature of modern political evil, as described by Arendt, helps explain how large-scale injustices can take place through seemingly mundane administrative actions.

Arendt’s emphasis on plurality and the importance of political action in public spaces is crucial for understanding the dynamics of resistance and political engagement in Gaza. Her ideas suggest that political freedom and the potential for new beginnings are essential for addressing the conflict and envisioning a peaceful future.

Arendt’s theory of totalitarianism identifies the drive for “total domination” as a system that eradicates individuality, morality and plurality, creating the conditions for genocide. Totalitarian regimes, in her analysis, systematically undermine the inclusion of individuals in political communities, stripping them of rights and legal protections.

This process is not only about physical destruction but also about the annihilation of human agency and the erasure of cultural diversity. Arendt situates genocide within a broader historical context, linking it to imperialism, racial ideologies and the failures of the modern state to uphold human rights.

Arendt’s ideas and Gaza

Arendt provides a lens for analysing the situation in Gaza and highlights the importance of addressing statelessness.

Her theories can be used to critique the human rights violations in Gaza, emphasising the need for legal and political recognition of Palestinians’ rights to mitigate their statelessness and vulnerability.

Arendt’s ideas on political action and plurality call for inclusive and participatory political processes to resolve the conflict and ensure a just and lasting peace.

[Source: Daily Maverick]