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Palestinians Protest Hamas—and More

Susan Quinn
@SusanQuinn
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In a rare demonstration of rage and frustration, the Palestinians finally took to the streets to protest the war in Gaza, and in particular, the Hamas forces. Palestinians have been reluctant to protest since Hamas has retaliated with beatings and arrests in the past. But the Palestinians have finally had enough. They spoke to reporters using only their first names, for fear of retribution:

‘Hamas is not taking us into account. It has 2 million people in Gaza who need to live,’ said Ibrahim. He called on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages it is holding. ‘People are fed up with displacement. There are no more safe places for people to go,’ said Mohammed. ‘So people spontaneously went to the streets and demanded the fall of Hamas rule in Gaza, to surrender. People want to live in peace and security.

The Palestinian Islamist militant group has not tolerated open dissent in nearly 18 years of ruling Gaza.

Yet Hamas did not take action against the protests nor did it make arrests.

The protests are not being ignored by local media:

Hamas did not officially comment on the protests, but some media outlets in Gaza, including those associated with the terror organization, published photos and videos from the events under the framing ‘demonstration for stopping the war’ without mentioning the calls for the terror group’s downfall.

It appears that Israel’s escalation of the war may be effective. And the Palestinians are tired: tired of being shuffled from one part of Gaza to another, tired of living in chaos, and tired of being hungry.

The question is: are they tired enough?

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Discussion (35)

  • Brian J Bergs@BrianBergs

    May God be working in the hearts of these poor Palestinians to have the courage to change their culture. How can we assist this movement? If somehow the Palestinians can change their hearts just a little. They don't have to love Jews but if they can just give up enough of the hate to live respectfully next to the Jewish state...everyone will benefit.

  • Susan Quinn@SusanQuinn
    ReplyingtoBrian J Bergs

    Brian J Bergs (View Comment):

    May God be working in the hearts of these poor Palestinians to have the courage to change their culture. How can we assist this movement? If somehow the Palestinians can change their hearts just a little. They don’t have to love Jews but if they can just give up enough of the hate to live respectfully next to the Jewish state…everyone will benefit.

    I don't know how it will all work out, Brian, but the protests are one giant step in the right direction. We'll have to wait and see...

  • Percival@Percival

    Beatings and arrests? I seem to recall Hamas celebrated their electoral victory in 2007 by shooting the opposition.

    Maybe Hamas no longer has the manpower to maintain control over their subjects. Maybe the subjects have gathered up enough firepower to put the result of a crackdown in question.

  • kedavis@kedavis

    Sorry but I tend to believe that they supported Hamas until it started to hurt, but they would support Hamas again at the drop of a hat. ("ANY hat," to borrow from Star Trek.)

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