Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Hamas isn’t the first to use anticolonialism to mask authoritarianism

Propaganda cartoon

A Japanese World War II propaganda leaflet shows a wounded Winston Churchill driving away a wagon of stolen wealth, while chained Indian soldiers are forced to fight and an Indian woman weeps.

Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Hofnung is a political sociologist at UCLA specializing in the politics shaping gender and racial equality policies in Israel and the United States. She is a member of theScholars Strategy Network.

As the Israel-Hamas war drags on into its fourth month, many on the left in the United States and Europe have inveighed against the Israeli military offensive. That position in some cases overlaps with acceptance of Hamas’ framing of its campaign of violence as an anticolonial liberation struggle waged against what Hamas itself calls the “racist, anti-human and colonial Zionist project.” Accepting this claim enables champions of the Palestinian cause and opponents of Israel, who otherwise would have abhorred Hamas’s violent tactics and tyrannical rule of the Gazan people, to turn a blind eye.

This dynamic mimics the tactics that Japan’s authoritarian regime deployed to devastating effect during World War II — a historical parallel that reveals the potential harm inflicted by an authoritarian regime cloaking its actions under the guise of a liberation struggle. But this history also provides reason for hope: the recovery and success of Japan’s post-war regime underscore the transformative possibilities that can emerge with a leadership change that ushers to power those committed to prosperity over martyrdom.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter


In the early 20th century, Japan envisioned itself as an imperial power. It sought regional influence through collaboration with Western powers, including joining the Allied forces in World War I. However, the racism in the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s soon strained Japan’s expansionist agenda. In 1919, the Allies rejected Japan's plea for racial equality in the Treaty of Versailles, and in 1924 Congress passed the Immigration Act, which prohibited Japanese immigration to the United States. These actions intensified Japan’s feelings of discrimination and exclusion. Those sentiments, in turn, resonated across Asia, where resentment against Western colonial powers was growing.

In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations, marking a pivotal shift in its foreign policy. Ostracized by the West, Japan adopted a new strategy by proclaiming itself a champion of pan-Asian solidarity, as advocated by figures like Shumei Okawa — dubbed the "Japanese Goebbels" by the Allies. But this framing masked sinister motives. Cloaking its belief in Japanese racial supremacy under the banner of "Asia for the Asiatics," Japan wanted to “liberate" the continent from Western colonial powers — and replace their rule with Japanese influence and control.

Heralding a "New Order in East Asia," Japan aggressively pursued this expansionist agenda. In 1937, it invaded China, and in 1940, it seized the French bases in Indochina. These moves strained relations with the U.S., prompting Japan to agree to the Tripartite Pact, which allied it with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

In 1940, the U.S. imposed an oil embargo on Japan, leading to escalating tensions and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Okawa, who initially opposed involving the U.S. in the war, justified the sneak attack as a response to a century of Anglo-American aggression in East Asia. This messaging conveniently excluded Japan’s ally, Nazi Germany, from its anti-Western rhetoric.

The U.S. entry into the war further fueled Japanese propaganda, which framed WWII as both an East-West civilization struggle and a race war. By exploiting and highlighting racial oppression, including lynching in the U.S., Japan, and later the Nazis, aimed to disrupt President Franklin Roosevelt's efforts to portray the U.S. as a champion of human rights and racial equality. About a week after Pearl Harbor, a Japanese Radio broadcast intended for American audiences declared: "Despite the Bill of Rights, President Roosevelt knows there is no freedom and justice for all in the United States. Colored people and yellow people are 'not wanted.' They are only 'hewers of wood and drawers of water for their masters.'"

Highlighting racial antagonism, the Japanese hoped, would produce anti-war sentiments in the U.S. and win sympathy from populations across Asia, Africa, India and Latin America. Its success in turning these populations against the Allies raised serious concerns among officials, including Roosevelt, pushing them to propose a post-war vision that would address the gap between the Allies' image of equality and reality. As noted by historian Saul Padover in 1943, “The fact that there is more than a grain of truth in Nippon's propaganda makes it the more serious for the United States, particularly as Japan is appealing to hundreds of millions of people who do not happen to be Anglo-Saxons.”

In the U.S., Japanese propaganda fell short of creating widespread anti-war sentiment. Nonetheless, a 1942 U.S. Office of War Information report revealed that almost half of New York City's Black population believed rule under the authoritarian Japanese regime would be no worse.

The effectiveness of Japan’s propaganda, orchestrated by two of modern history's most brutal and racially discriminatory regimes, highlights the way messaging can evoke strong emotions, which prevent individuals from considering the broader implications of the causes they support. As noted by George Orwell in a 1942 diary entry, “German propaganda is ... with an utter unscrupulousness ... offering everything to everybody" — even when those promises, of freedom or empire, of emancipation or segregation, conflicted.

Successful propaganda, however, couldn’t save Japan from superior Allied military might. By the summer of 1945, its cities lay in ruins, and a blockade paralyzed crucial imports, reducing its military capabilities to primitive levels. Even so, the militant faction in the government, showcasing supreme indifference to its populace, bulldozed opposition and insisted on continuing to fight. Civilians stashed away Molotov cocktails and resorted to extreme measures, including suicide bombings, exemplifying Japan's fervor. The unwillingness to surrender played a pivotal role in the American decision to drop the atomic bombs, leading to horrifying devastation and loss of life.

After World War II, Japan underwent significant reconstruction during the Allied military occupation led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The transformation included punishments — war crimes trials, disarmament and a ban on remilitarization. But it also stabilized the Japanese economy through land reforms and a move to a free market economy, as well as creating a new constitution. In 1952, the occupation ended with the signing of a peace treaty and an alliance. Focusing on economic prosperity, the new Japanese leadership steered the reforms, which helped transform their country into an economic miracle and a global superpower.

Hamas eerily resembles Japan's wartime regime in its exploitation of anticolonial and racial justice sentiments. It, too, portrays itself as a liberator fighting against oppression and colonialism. In its 2017 revised manifesto, Hamas stated its fight is against the “Zionist project [which] is a racist, aggressive, colonial and expansionist project.” The group claims to stand against “attempts to impose hegemony on the Arab and Islamic Ummah,” arguing it “condemns all forms of colonialism, occupation, discrimination, oppression and aggression in the world.”

Yet, like the Japanese regime, this rhetoric cloaks an expansionist agenda based on the idea that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims. The Hamas Charter emphasizes Sharia rule and Islamic sovereignty, issuing warnings to those who dare dissent. Recent interviews with Hamas leaders reaffirm these principles, extending their reach worldwide.

Further, similar to Japan's wartime alignment with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Hamas is aligned with an axis of repressive authoritarian regimes, including Iran, Syria, the Houthis in Yemen, and Russia. Like Hamas, many of these governments discriminate against minorities, suppress the political opposition, brutally repress their people, and are especially draconian in their treatment of women and the LGBTQ community. In Gaza, Hamas’ rule protects honor killings, allowing perpetrators to receive reduced sentences. And husbands who murder adulterous wives have their crimes reduced to misdemeanors.

Much like Japan's wartime regime, Hamas also shows supreme callousness toward its population, and has been accused of strategically deploying civilians as human shields, conducting attacks from densely populated areas, and violating the Geneva Convention by using protected facilities, such as schools and hospitals, to target Israeli forces. According to a 2019 NATO report, Hamas views deploying civilians as human shields as a calculated "win-win scenario." This tactic increases civilian casualties when the Israeli Defense Force strikes militarily, enabling Hamas to accuse Israel of war crimes. Conversely, if the IDF minimizes collateral damage, Hamas can fortify its assets while continuing its fight.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, one of its leaders, recently underscored its indifference to the suffering of Gaza's populace. He admitted that the organization did not build bomb shelters or use tunnels to protect civilians before it launched a massive terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7. Instead, Abu Marzouk asserted, the responsibility for protecting civilians lies with the United Nations and Israel. In an interview with The Economist, when asked whether he cared about the number of Palestinians killed in his pursuit of eliminating Israel, Marzouk replied, "Dignity is more valuable than life. The homeland is more important, more than life.”

This story was originally published in Time Magazine on Jan. 30, 2024.

Read More

Are President Trump’s Economic Promises Falling Short?

U.S. President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter in the Oval Office at the White House on May 05, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Anna Moneymaker

Are President Trump’s Economic Promises Falling Short?

President Donald Trump was elected for a second term after a campaign in which voters were persuaded that he could skillfully manage the economy better than his Democratic opponent. On the campaign trail and since being elected for the second time, President Trump has promised that his policies would bolster economic growth, boost domestic manufacturing with more products “made in the USA,” reduce the price of groceries “on Day 1,” and make America “very rich” again.

These were bold promises, so how is President Trump doing, three and a half months into his term? The evidence so far is as mixed and uncertain as his roller coaster tariff policy.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn on May 1, 2025 in Washington, DC.

U.S. President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn on May 1, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Andrew Harnik

Trump’s First 100 Days on Trial

100 Days, 122 Rulings

Presidents are typically evaluated by their accomplishments in the first 100 days. Donald Trump's second term stands out for a different reason: the unprecedented number of executive actions challenged and blocked by the courts. In just over three months, Trump issued more than 200 executive orders, targeting areas such as climate policy, civil service regulations, immigration, and education funding.

However, the most telling statistic is not the volume of orders but the judiciary's response: over 120 rulings have paused or invalidated these directives. This positions the courts, rather than Congress, as the primary institutional check on the administration's agenda. With a legislature largely aligned with the executive, the judiciary has become a critical counterbalance. The sustainability of this dynamic raises questions about the resilience of democratic institutions when one branch shoulders the burden of oversight responsibilities.

Keep ReadingShow less
The President Must Affirm His Commitment to the Constitution
The preamble to the U.S. Constitution.
Getty Images, Douglas Sacha

The President Must Affirm His Commitment to the Constitution

The United States of America is at a precarious moment. Our Constitutional republic is hanging by a thread when the President himself seems uncertain about his obligation to uphold the Constitution — while those who do are being honored for their courage, as though fidelity to our founding principles were exceptional rather than fundamental. The U.S. Constitution is what holds us together as a nation. Without allegiance to it, I fear we risk losing our very identity.

Meanwhile, the legislative branch envisioned by our founders as having the most power has completely abdicated its duty of good governance, surrendering instead to partisanship.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on April 23, 2025 in Washington, DC.

U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on April 23, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla

Trump 2.0’s Alleged Trifecta Crisis

On July 25, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a radio address to 125 million Americans in which he coined the term “first 100 days.” Today, the 100th day of a presidency is considered a benchmark to measure the early success or failure of a president.

Mr. Trump’s 100th day of office lands on April 30, when the world has witnessed his 137 executive orders, 39 proclamations, 36 memoranda, a few Cabinet meetings, and numerous press briefings. In summary, Trump’s cabinet appointments and seemingly arbitrary, capricious, ad hoc, and erratic actions have created turmoil in the stock market, utter confusion among our international trade partners, and confounded unrest with consumers, workers, small business owners, and corporate CEOs.

Keep ReadingShow less