Sahm (Arrow): سهم Rad‘a (Deterrence): ردع

Reading Michael Barak’s recent and oustanding analysis of Hamas’s internal psychological warfare prompted a closer look at something often left aside: the language itself.

Recent reporting has described Hamas’s use of internal enforcement units with names such as Sahm (Arrow) and Rad‘a (Deterrence). These are typically presented as operational or security mechanisms. That is correct—but there is more.

The names themselves are doing psychological work.

Sahm—arrow—does not simply indicate precision. It marks. It selects. It transforms a body into a target-object. What appears as identification is already a form of action. The moment of naming collapses ambiguity. The question of loyalty is resolved not through inquiry, but through designation.

What is produced is not a person, but a marked body.

Rad‘a—deterrence—extends this process into........

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