Islamists
Silent on Hamas' Brutal Repression of Gaza Protests
by Hany Ghoraba
Special to IPT News
March 25, 2019
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 Hamas continues to use force to quell a popular uprising in Gaza as
protests against the group's governance enter a third week. Protesters are
beaten and hundreds of people – including journalists – have been detained.
You wouldn't know that by the reaction from Islamist groups in the
United States and Europe. Not one has said a critical word about the Hamas
brutality.
The protests, labeled "Bedna N'eeish," or
"We want to live," were sparked by thousands of Gazans who took to the streets
March 14 to protest the scarce food supplies, tax hikes and substandard
living conditions that have only worsened since Hamas took power in 2007.
Rather than build a viable economy and invest in infrastructure, Hamas diverts huge sums of money to digging attack tunnels
and developing weapons for the next confrontation with Israel that place
Palestinians in harm's way.
Hamas blames the Palestinian Authority and Israel while
accusing them of orchestrating the protests. It used
gunfire, massive arrests and beatings to try to shut the protests down.
When a rocket fired from Gaza struck a home in central Israel Monday morning, some saw it as an attempt to bait an Israeli military
response. A family of seven, including three children, was inside the
house, which was destroyed by fire. The family escaped with injuries.
"Having failed to quell the protests with a violent crackdown,
Hamas chose a new tack," wrote Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador
to Israel. "What better way to distract their public, and turn their
ire away from Hamas and back toward Israel, than to provoke a heavy Israeli
response?"
If Islamists truly were concerned about the suffering in Palestinians,
they would be quick to condemn this latest rocket attack. The response will
only make the lives of Gaza's Palestinians worse.
That's what Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meant last
week when, while visiting two people wounded in the protests, cursed Hamas assailants and labeled them as
"dogs" who belong to the "garbage of history."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which embraces the Palestinian cause, has said nothing about
the violent Hamas crackdown on dissent. CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad,
who is usually busy distributing accusations of "Islamophobia" on
others using his Twitter account, remained muffled on the
major events taking place in the land of origin.
Neither Ilhan Omar nor Rashida Tlaib, two Muslim women elected to
Congress last fall, has had anything to say about the brutal treatment of
Gazans by Hamas. Both Tlaib, a Palestinian, and Omar, have been supported
by CAIR.
"Peace and respect for human rights: These are universal
values," Omar wrote in a recent Washington Post op-ed.
"...These are the values that propelled me to get involved in public
life."
A statement criticizing Hamas for the attacks on protesters, or for the
unprovoked rocket attacks on civilians, would go a long way in establishing
her sincerity. Her silence sends a more disturbing signal.
Omar ignited controversy when she questioned the allegiance of pro-Israel advocates, was
the guest speaker Saturday at a CAIR fundraiser in Southern
California. Attacks by Hamas on Palestinians were not mentioned during the
fundraiser.
Omar did take a moment to mock dozens of people who gathered outside the
banquet to protest her series of anti-Semitic statements. Ignoring those
concerns, Omar cast the protesters as people who unjustly characterize
Islam as "oppressive ... and isolates its women. And today they gather
outside to protest a Muslim woman who is in Congress. The irony, the irony
in that is very entertaining to me ... But I don't think any of them
realize that people like myself and many of the people in this room can
care less about what they have to say. Because we know who we are and where
we belong and what we stand for."
In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood's official website and twitter account
have ignored the anti-Hamas Gaza protest. Hamas is a Brotherhood offshoot.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who presents himself as the leader of the Sunni Muslim
world, has ignored the Gaza protests entirely.
But Hamas Mufti Youness Al Astal issued a fatwa declaring all protesters against Hamas as
"apostates."
"All those who protest against or killed by the resistance (Hamas)
are apostates and should have no compensation," he said, referring to
money given to surviving relatives after an accidental death. The fatwa
provided Hamas a religious justification to continue using repressive
measures against Gaza dissidents.
Gaza's deteriorating economic conditions come as an increasing number of
Hamas leaders obtained significant wealth.
A 2014 conference ended with $5 billion in commitments from Qatar and other nations
to help rebuild Gaza. Frustrated Gazans wonder where Hamas leaders
squandered these funds.
"The entirety of Gaza is unemployed, my husband and my son are
unemployed, I am not speaking on my own behalf but on behalf of all of Gaza,"
one woman protester said.
"The son of a Hamas official would own a car, a house and a job by the
age of 20 and my son like all others Gazan youth own nothing!"
The silence over the Hamas crackdown on Gaza protesters makes it clear
that Islamist concern for human rights is selective. If they really wanted
life to improve for Palestinians in Gaza, speaking out seems like a pretty
minimal action.
Hany
Ghoraba is an Egyptian writer, political and counter-terrorism
analyst at Al Ahram Weekly, author of Egypt's
Arab Spring: The Long and Winding Road to Democracy and a
regular contributor to the BBC.
Related Topics: Hany
Ghoraba, Gaza
protests, Hamas
repression, Hamas
rockets, Daniel
Shapiro, Mahmoud
Abbas, CAIR,
Nihad
Awad, Ilhan
Omar, Rashida
Tlaib, Muslim
Brotherhood, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, Youness
Al Astal
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