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.
You are correct on the atheist conception of death, so thanks for pointing that out. Absence of experience is not the same as experience of absence.
One question I have though: How does the (obviously correct) point that Islamism in general can not be understand as having emerged except in relation to, and in an essential way as a result of and reaction to Western Imperialism and Colonialism, influence in any way whatsoever the answer to whether or not Islamism is reactionary? This also just strikes me as a way of avoiding another important discussion of the reactionary effects of Islamism on the societies they influence. Did the US actively supporting, arming and financing Jihadists such as the Taliban mean that these are not bad laws, or that Islamism is not reactionary? I'm genuinely asking here as it's a complete mystery to me what anyone thinks they are meaningfully pointing out when they say things like things like this beyond correctly underlining how reactionary the effects of US imperialism are. But you can't even make that point with full strength without recognizing that the effects through flaming Islamist radicalization are also reactionary because Islamism is profoundly reactionary.