The idea that the Palestinian people have only been able to persist because of their religion is ridiculous to me. They are resisting because colonialism, apartheid and genocide are very bad things to which nobody would want to be subjected, not because of Islam. If Palestinians were atheists, is he suggesting that they wouldn't have the strength or the will to resist? Would their lack of a belief in the supernatural turn them into doormats for Isn'treal?
I like Hakim's content, but his position on religion is quite frustrating. He is a Muslim first and a Marxist second. Also, Joram van Klaveren is still a right-winger.
I wrote the comment thinking of the Iranian revolution which afaict ended with the clerics taking power and imprisoning/murdering all the atheist leftists they could find. But it's a very different situation from Palestine desperately struggling to form any kind of state at all. My bad and thank you for responding patiently.
It was just weird seeing praise in the op and some comments (in a leftist/Marxist community) for the use of religion as an organizing principle, as smth good in itself instead of a necessary/temporary evil. Like, even our anthem has a line for "Ni dieu, ni césar, ni tribun!"