I am not Hamas. But thank you for asking. I felt I needed to address that before I wrote my commentary on Israel’s latest war on Gaza.
Dear reader, I don’t blame you for assuming that I would be a card-carrying member of a militant organization that has failed the Palestinian people and committed war crimes against Israeli citizens. After all, I am a son of Pakistani immigrants born and raised in the Bay Area, California. It makes perfect sense!
However, I am fallible, ignorant, and can be wrong, so just to be sure I called my parents to verify. My parents affirmed that we were indeed not Hamas and scolded me for asking stupid questions. Then they proceeded to shame me about my weight gain and asked how come I hadn’t written a best-selling book like other South Asian writers.