In weeks and months to come I hope to publish more and more from my wife's young friend who is now in Gaza. She is a Harvard student and works with an NGO. I will be able to give you her name when she gets out of Gaza. Meantime, per her blog, let's call her the Queen of Sheba. And here is her latest report, a fabulous take down of Hamas. Yep, that's right:
people think that if they are anti-Israel they must be pro-Hamas. In
addition I cannot stand the misconception that by being critical of
Hamas; one is automatically condoning the international rejection of
its legitimacy, and Israel’s desire to remove it from power…
am extremely critical of its practices, this is also how every Gazan
friend of mine feels. Of course because I am working in the field of
human rights, I am dealing with a specific sector of the population,
much more liberal and left-wing. However, I have also heard criticisms
being leveled at Hamas’s regime from every taxi driver, shop keeper,
and waiter that I have discussed politics with. Again, I live in Gaza
City, and if I were in Khan Younis or Rafah I would probably meet many
more Hamas supporters.
The
two largest local NGOs, Al Mezan and PCHR have boycotted the courts
since 2008, when Hamas illegitimately installed Hamas judges, not
something that the party was allowed to do. In addition it does not
allow NGOs to visit prisoners to monitor their conditions, for the most
part. However I have seen countless pictures of victims tortured for
being members of opposition parties, art schools ransacked and closed
for teaching inappropriate subjects, and heard the stories of wives
whose husbands were kidnapped and murdered by the secret police…
I
was at a workshop of Hamas and Fatah officials a few days ago where the
majority of the audience (non-Hamas) was begging for Shalit to be given
back, with one Hamas official flatly refusing…
It
is totally understandable that a regime like this has taken power,
given the circumstances that the Palestinians have been living under.
No one can criticize the Palestinians for Hamas winning the elections
by a landslide. However, refusing to criticize Hamas is not helping the
Gazans. The situation here is bad enough due to the siege, but the
refusal to acknowledge the repressive regime’s conduct makes it worse….
Now many people live in fear; I cannot tell you how many friends of
mine are too scared to leave their homes because they are Fatah, and
they have been sitting at home jobless for 3 years. But because Gaza
has been cut off by the siege, there is no way for them to implement a
change. I always am astounded when I hear Israel calling for the Gazans
to get rid of Hamas, how on earth can they if they have been locked up,
the key has been thrown away, and Hamas is in power? Where is the room
to initiate change?
