Ghassan Hage on “The Right to Defend Oneself”

A Short History of a White Utterance with a Long History

During the Spanish conquest of the Americas, indigenous peoples were dispossessed and massacred by the millions. Sometimes the indigenous people resisted and killed some of the Spanish colonisers. When they did, the Spanish retaliated with more massacres. ‘They are attacking us and they have killed some of us. We have the right to defend ourselves,’ they said. Most White people agreed. They acted as if the difference between how many the indigenous people have killed and how many the colonialists killed is not important. They acted as if who invaded whose home is not important. They acted as if who is subjugating whom is not important either. They acted as if the only thing that mattered is the formula ‘they are attacking us and they have killed some of us and we have the right to defend ourselves’. That this was a very selective way of describing the truth of what is going on was obvious to all those who uttered the formula. But those who tried to point out that this was not the truth failed to understand something very important. Those who uttered this and similar sentences were not truth seekers. They were White colonial warriors. Their utterance was not a truth seeking utterance, it was a warring incantation that aimed to reinforce a White colonising apparatus.

During the Portuguese conquest of Brazil the same thing happened. Colonial massacres, dispossession, subjugation. Some indigenous resistance followed by more massacres. And for those who asked why more massacres? The Portuguese explained that ‘They are attacking us and they have killed some of us. We have the right to defend ourselves.’ Most White people agreed. They acted as if the difference between how many the indigenous people killed and how many the colonialists killed is not important. They acted as if who invaded whose home is not important. They acted as if who is subjugating whom is not important either. They acted as if the only thing that mattered is the formula ‘they are attacking us and they have killed some of us and we have the right to defend ourselves’. That this was a very selective way of describing the truth of what is going on was obvious to all those who uttered the formula. But those who tried to point out that this was not the truth failed to understand something very important. Those who uttered this and similar sentences were not truth seekers. They were White colonial warriors. Their utterance was not a truth seeking utterance, it was a warring incantation that aimed to reinforce a White colonising apparatus.

During the European conquest of North America the same thing happened with Native Americans. And the same thing happened with the English in Asia, the French in North Africa, the Germans in Southern Africa, the Italians in Libya and the Belge in the Congo and the Dutch and, and. They all conquered, massacred, appropriated land and when resisted they said ‘they’re attacking us and they have killed some of us and we have the right to defend ourselves’. For those who are invaded can only defend themselves as best as they could. Only those who have invaded and institutionalised their laws can have ‘the right to defend themselves’.

I’ve left out quite a few but I won’t leave out what happened on the land from where I am writing. Guess what happened here? The English came and conquered. And then what happened? Colonial massacres, dispossession, subjugation, a whole legal apparatus designed to legalise the theft and the right of the thieves. And sure enough, Indigenous resistance was followed by more massacres styled as ‘retaliation’. And for those who asked why more massacres? The Australian settlers explained that those Indigenous people were a serious murderous lot. ‘They are attacking us and they have killed some of us. We have the right to defend ourselves.’ 

And yes. Sure enough, most White people agreed. They acted as if the difference between how many the Indigenous people have killed and how many the Australian settlers have killed is not important. They acted as if who invaded whose land is not important. They acted as if who is subjugating whom is not important either. They acted as if the only thing that mattered is the right to ‘retaliate’: ‘They are attacking us and they have killed some of us and we have the right to defend ourselves.’ And I think it is worth repeating. That this was a very selective way of describing the truth of what is going on was obvious to all those who uttered the formula. But those who tried to point out that this was not the truth failed to understand something very important. Those who uttered this and similar sentences were not truth seekers. They were White colonial warriors. Their utterance was not a truth seeking utterance, it was a warring incantation that aimed to reinforce a White colonising apparatus. And so, here we are today after the Zionist invasion and conquering of Palestine, we are swimming in the Zionist claims that they are being attacked by Palestinians and that …, what was it again? … ah yes … ‘they have the right to defend themselves’. 

And who is acting as if the difference between how many the indigenous people have killed and how many the settler colonialists have killed is not important? And who is acting as if who invaded whose home is not important? And who is acting as if the question of who is subjugating whom is not important either? And who is asserting with force that the only thing that mattered is that ‘they are attacking us and they have killed some of us and we have the right to defend ourselves’? And, as importantly, who is nodding in agreement? Funnily enough: all those who have been practicing those same or very similar formulaic utterances for centuries.

And unfortunately, despite this long history there is still those who think that what is important is to show the colonialists the ‘facts’ and demonstrate that what they are saying does not conform to the truth. Such people still fail to understand that those who utter this and similar sentences are not truth seekers. They are White colonial warriors. Their utterances are not truth seeking utterances. They are warring incantations that aim to reinforce a White colonising apparatus.

Blessed are the invaded and the colonised who have always had to defend themselves without having the power or the privilege to declare it ‘a right’.

This article is featured in The Racial Politics of Australian Multiculturalism by Professor Ghassan Hage. Published in May 2023 by Sweatshop Literacy Movement. Foreword by Dr Jumana Bayeh, Dr Paula Abood, Dr Sarah Ayoub and Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah.

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