The Palestinians in Gaza are held in thrall by their Hamas rulers. They cannot vote them out: there have been no elections in fifteen years. They cannot rise in revolt: political dissidents are swiftly arrested, imprisoned, and in some cases, killed by Hamas goons. They cannot prevent Hamas from putting its weapons in the midst of civilian areas, even inside schools, hospitals, mosques, apartment buildings, endangering the lives of ordinary people and, in fact, hoping thereby to increase the number of civilian casualties that can be used as propaganda against the IDF. Israel tries to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza; Hamas, on the other hand, hopes to maximize them. These ordinary Palestinians in Gaza, who are not privileged members of the terror group, have only one way to express their deep unhappiness, which is not to join in any public display of approval for Hamas. That widespread refusal to celebrate Hamas was much in evidence in Gaza on May 22, the day after the ceasefire was declared. That story is here: “Hamas Has Lost Its Gaza Constituency,” by Hillel Frisch, Algemeiner, May 31, 2021:
Never has Hamas faced a victory as shallow as the latest round of fighting it initiated with Israel, the evidence of which Hamas itself produced.
On the day after the ceasefire, Hamas Internet sites showed a four-minute video of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader of Gaza, appearing in public for the first time since the fighting had begun 12 days before.
He was shown walking, accompanied by Hamas stalwarts, to victorious music amid festive banners. Loudspeakers blared his presence and the Hamas victory, and invited the public to join the festivities. The authorities had made sure to close the avenue in one direction and leave the other direction open. The traffic control, loudspeakers, and banners indicated that the event had been meticulously planned.
Everything had been prepared for a popular show of support for Hamas and its great “victory” over Israel. Yahya Sinwar himself, the leader of Hamas’ political wing, who had not been seen in public during the war, would be leading the marchers in the victory parade. Hamas banners fluttered in the air, loudspeakers blared their news about the great victory, one side of a main avenue had been closed off to vehicular traffic, for the sake of the pedestrians on parade. It was meant to be a stirring affair, a show of support for the brave fighters of Hamas who had dealt the Zionists such a terrific blow.
But it failed to materialize. No member of the public — not a single one — joined in. In the background, cars can be seen driving through and pedestrians walking about without anyone bothering to turn their gaze toward the event….
There are two basic reasons why Hamas is in total disconnect with its Gaza constituency (excepting the 50,000 families who form the hard core of Hamas and are in its employ as a result of Qatari largesse).
About 50,000 families – that is, about 300,000 people –out of Gaza’s population of two million, constitute the bedrock of Hamas members. But even these privileged people did not turn out to join the “victory parade,” or at least line the route to applaud Sinwar’s appearance.
Why didn’t the Gazans come out in any numbers?
First, Gaza’s residents know that Hamas deliberately operates from within the dense neighborhoods in which they live. Though the civilian population is rarely directly hit by the Israeli army, which does everything possible to prevent collateral civilian damage, the psychological toll of being used as a human shield is nevertheless considerable. Israel’s 6,500 strikes mostly involved missiles with a 500 to 750 kilo payload. Israelis now know that Hamas missiles with a payload one-twentieth of that have a nerve-racking impact that can be heard and felt over an area of four to five kilometers (16 to 24 square kilometers). A rocket strike from an Israeli plane with a payload 20 times that amount has a much greater impact, which means half of Gaza’s residents are affected by every strike. Those residents endured that effect 300 times over 12 days, 25 times a day — a level of punishment perhaps only fully understood by Israelis in the “Gaza envelope.”…
The shuddering thud made by the impact of Israeli bombs, that accompanied every one of its 6,500 airstrikes, must have driven the Gazans half-crazy, without letup, for eleven days. This is not something the Gazans can forget, nor can they forgive Hamas for starting this war that they know – whatever the Hamas big shots have been claiming – was a colossal defeat for the terror group that left much of Gaza in ruins. Ordinary Gazans are in despair.
This was no victory — a fact Gaza’s residents know well but cannot divulge.
All the preparations for the Victory Parade – the banners, the blaring loudspeakers, the half of the avenue closed off to vehicular traffic – were in place. So were a handful of Hamas fighters, escorting Sinwar. But there were no crowds lining the avenue. No swelling groups of loyalists marching behind Sinwar and his handful of Hamas officials and fighters. Hamas had apparently not called on its fighters to show up and march – or else. Possibly it believed its own propaganda, and thought that the people of Gaza would appear sua sponte. It didn’t happen. They failed to materialize. Some Gazans drove right by Sinwar and his pitiful cortege of bodyguards; pedestrians, too, hurried by, indifferent to – or most likely inwardly enraged by – the absurd spectacle of Hamas hailing its own “victory” when so much of Gaza had been pulverized.
Beneath the Veil of Consciousness says
Parading past the graveyards.
mortimer says
The dirty secret of the Pallies is that probably most have left the West Bank and Gaza, but they are still counting them as residents. Indeed, large numbers of the Palestinian diaspora live in over a dozen foreign countries, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Egypt, United States, Canada and Brazil. They are mostly citizens of those countries.
Operating on the KGB-invented narrative of a separate Pally Arab people, the Pally leaders surely don’t believe there is a real ‘Palestinian’ ethnicity, but many of their followers do … until now. The power lust of the Pally leaders has soured so many Pallies, that the Pally territories have been emptying out slowly for years. Probably, there are as many or more Pallies living in the diaspora as there are in Israel, but they dare not do a proper census.
gravenimage says
Too bad they have mostly come to the west to attack Jews. Perhaps that Hamas “victory parade” should have been held in the west…
Rob Porter says
Just look at them and their ugly faces. One look tells us we are looking at low-life, grubby criminals. You look at them the was you would a dog turd you accidentally stood on.
mortimer says
Hugh Fitzgerald has done a very good exposé of the true feelings of the Gazan residents after suffering years of oppression and now another war started by Hamas in which they were forced to endure a severe bombardment, again the result of the arrogance and stupidity of Hamas.
In addition to the injuries they suffered, the Pallies must further endure Hamas’ to insult the intelligence of the Pallies by declaring a great VICTORY and then holding a victory parade!
The only result of this arrogance and insanity is for even more Pally families to leave Gaza forever and go into permanent diaspora in Brazil or United States.
James Lincoln says
mortimer,
No good can come out of admitting “Pallies” into the United States.
Not a single one should be let in…
tim gallagher says
I agree, James. I don’t believe that any non-Muslim country should take any Palestinians in. They should be taken in by their fellow Muslims such as Saudi Arabia and other rich Muslim countries. I’m pretty sure that i read years ago that the rich Muslim countries don’t want any of the Palestinians because they know that they will be nothing but trouble. Also, I’m sure that Muslim countries want to help the Muslim invasion of non-Muslim countries by not taking in their fellow Muslims and forcing non-Muslim countries to take them in. I’m with the Hungarian attitude – don’t let any Muslims into any of our non-Muslim countries. Letting Muslims in is like shooting ourselves in the foot over and over. All our over generous countries inflict so much unnecessary damage on ourselves and taking in the enemy Muslims is one of the main ways we keep damaging our countries..
gravenimage says
Agree, James and Tim. Many of the attacks on Jews all over the west in the past couple of weeks have been by “Palestinian” Muslims.
tim gallagher says
Yes, gravenimage, I think they are just bad news. Then again, although I have met Muslims who seem OK, although I never have really known any of them all that well, I really don’t think any non-Muslim countries should let any Muslims in. As I said up above, it is the equivalent of continually shooting ourselves in the foot, what with the terrorism, the rape gangs, etc. Muslim should stay in Muslim countries as much as possible. I don’t believe that many Muslims ever aim to get along with non-Muslims.
gravenimage says
+1
Walter Sieruk says
The jihadists of Hamas base their anti-Jewish beliefs on the Qu ‘ran which reads the are Jews are “apes and pigs” 2:65. 7:166. 5:60. Likewise. Hamas jihadists base their murderous violence against the Jewish people by the violent and deadly instruction found in the Qu ‘ran, 2:191. 4:89. 5:33. 9:5. 111,112, 123. 47:4.
Furthermore, the very foundation of and for Islam is the Qu ‘ran ,this leads to very important question: “Is the Quran the Word of God or is it a fabrication of a man. Thus, is the Quran the truth or a fiction and a hoax ?”
The answer is clearly given on pages 145 through 157 in THE ISLAMIC INVASION by Robert Morey in which he wrote a section on the Qu ‘ran with its self-contradictions. Just two of the many he cited are the following “The Quran differs on whether a day is a thousand years or fifty thousand years in God’s sight’ and “Who was first to believe? Abraham or Moses [Sura 6:14 versus 7:143]?
The above is inconsistent and illogical. Further, Morey wrote about “The fact that Judaism and Christianity broke up into different sects was used in the Qu ‘ran to prove that they are not of God [Suras 30:20-32. 42:13, 14]. Yet Islam has broken up into many warring sects and therefore cannot be true if the Qu ‘ran is right.” Moreover, Morey in his book shows many more contradictions and absurdities in the Qu ‘ran, there are and how Muhammad incorporated extra Biblical and Jewish folklore along with pre-Islamic Arabian myth and parts of Zoroastrian and Hindu stories into the Qu ‘ran.
Moreover, the Muslims claim that “the Qu ‘ran is the direct, literal word of God unmodified in any way by the Prophet who uttered them at the bidding of God.” Nevertheless, in the book UNVEILING ISLAM by Ergun Mehmet Caner and Eethi Caner has shown that the Quran was modified in the following account on pages 45. “Muhammad felt the need to improve on the words of Allah, since he changed Allah’s wisdom for his own on several occasions. A hadith tells of the nonchalant emendations of Muhammad:’ On a number of occasions he [a scribe] had, with the Prophet’s consent changed the closing words of verses. For example, when the prophet had said ‘God is mighty and wise ‘ Adbollah b. Abi Sarh suggested writing down ‘Knowing and wise’ and the Prophet answered that there was no objection. Having observed a succession of changes of this type, Adbollah renounced Islam on the grounds that revelations, if from God could not be changed at the prompting of a scribe such as himself. After his apostasy he went to Mecca and joined the Qorayshites.”
Other writers reveal that later Muhammad and his people did go war with the Qorayshites and he personally killed Abdollah. Obviously Abdollah knew too much and Muhammad wanted Abdollah’s knowledge to die with him.”
In conclusion, the Qu ‘ran is not only a fiction also a hoax and therefore the entire foundation of Hamas is based on lies and falsehood of that bogus “holy book.”
Rarely says
I suppose non-Christians could ask: “Is the Bible the word of God or a fabrication? Is it the truth or a fiction and a hoax? Is it a bogus holy book?”
In as much as the majority of mankind is not Christian I suspect it’s not a poll you would relish.
James Lincoln says
Rarely,
As a devout Christian, I would have no problem with the poll that you had suggested.
Whatever it showed, the information would be useful to know…
gravenimage says
+1
gravenimage says
Rarely–with all respect–your implication that no one has ever been allowed to ask if the Bible is the word of God or not and that all Christians would oppose such a question being asked is just silly.
There are actually hundreds of pieces on-line on just this subject. The Huffington Post has an article titled “Why the Bible Is Not the Word of God” from a couple of years ago–from a minister, no less.
A Google search on “is the bible the word of god” brought up 338,000,000 results.
This is actually a common topic. And note that Christians, whatever their views on the subject, don’t react with violence as Muslims regularly do, nor is the asking of such questions barred in any Christian-majority nation.
Rarely says
All true of course.
However, whether or not a religion and its “texts” are true or false, man-made or divine is based largely (if not totally) on belief and personal experience. The koran is full of holes perhaps but what religious text isn’t when viewed by those who do not follow that religion? The Bible is no exception. These are pretty simple observations that seem to allude Walter.
gravenimage says
Rarely, the issue here is the threat of Islam. Your belief that the main concern here should be whether or not Anti-Jihadist Walter Sieruk agrees with you that the Bible is considered “full of holes” by non-Christians is–with all respect–actually quite odd.
Rarely says
Proving that islam is a “man-made” religion is counter productive. I simply have pointed out that, to non-believers, every religion not their own is man-made and its books therefore “hoaxes”.
Trying to convince muslims that their religion is a fraud, as Walter so often suggests, is a total waste of energy.
gravenimage says
Certainly, Muslims seldom listen to Infidels, religious or otherwise. Most who do have already been questioning Islam.
This certainly will not solve the entire problem of Islam. But I am happy to see Muslims leave Islam for any other faith, or none–surely not a bad thing?
Rarely says
GI.
True that is nice to see muslims leaving islam. However, many “Christians” seem to be joining islam. I wonder which number is greater.
Keith O says
Aww, how cute.
Hamas took their special needs guy out for a walk.
I hope the Gazans wipe the stupid smirk from Sinwar’s face.
Kepha says
The poor, poor Gazans. In their one man, one vote, one time election, they voted Hamas into power.
gravenimage says
Palestinians In Gaza Rain On Hamas’ Victory Parade
………………..
Just hilarious–Hamas gave a “victory parade” and no one shows…
OLD GUY says
Hamas is just another dictatorship. Only difference is that Hamas is a dictatorship over people without a country. The Muslim world is just using these people as a weapon against Israel. Hell of a position to put these people, but islam doesn’t care it’s all about power and hate for Israel.
When Hamas attacks Israel they know dam well that THEY are putting these people in danger from Israel responding to protect its citizens from these attacks. So WHO is the BAD GUYS? HAMAS!