(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . GAZA'S SUMMER2023 ANTI-HAMAS PROTESTS ... we failed to notice the almost-revolution. It's gone now. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-22 ...The deteriorating situation in Gaza has led to [defiance] amid growing frustration over the poor conditions in the besieged enclave. Despite the crackdown, activists on social media continue to call for new protests. Another wave of demonstrations is taking to the streets this weekend. One of the groups advocating for the “We Want to Live” movement released a statement following the protests on Sunday, that read , “The time of silence over injustice and the exploitation of religion for oppression is over.” Hamas always responds by cracking down severely, Shehada told Al-Monitor, and more importantly, "the main culprit behind Gaza’s suffering remains the 16-year-old Israeli blockade,” he added. Although the protests and the growing popular anger against Hamas are significant, they will not lead to any tangible results, according to Muhammad Shehada, a Palestinian political analyst who writes for several papers. Although rare, these are not the first anti-Hamas protests in Gaza. In March of 2019, similar demonstrations under the same slogan, “We Want to Live,” lasted for four days. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned the attack. “Assaulting and preventing journalists from carrying out their work and covering the peaceful marches in several places in the Gaza Strip is a flagrant violation of the freedom of journalistic work,” the syndicate said in a press statement, which also called on human rights organizations to intervene. Abdel Rahman told the local Wafa news agency that he was attacked by individuals who identified themselves as members of the Internal Security of Hamas. But protesters surrounded the reporter and stopped the forces from further beating him and from arresting him. The Islamist movement also assaulted journalists and prevented them from covering the protests. Most notably, Palestine TV reporter Walid Abdel Rahman was attacked while filming the demonstrations in the Jabaliya camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Hamas has launched an arrest campaign against citizens who took part in the protest. Last Sunday, Hamas’ security forces stormed Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah governorate, and took three patients who were being treated for injuries sustained during the protests. They were eventually released. Since Hamas’ rise to power in 2007, the Islamist movement has banned all forms of elections , including general, municipal, chambers of commerce, and even university students’ council elections. Hamas fills those positions from its own ranks and allies without any electoral process. Among the protesters’ demands is also for Hamas to allow municipal elections in the Gaza Strip. Ahmed Hasan, who was also part of the protests in Bani Suheila, told Al-Monitor, “To this day, Hamas leaders don’t act like they’re the rulers of Gaza. ... They’re lazy, corrupt, careless and inhumane,” Fadi, another young demonstrator in Bani Suheila, told Al-Monitor, “Years of our lives are being wasted. We’re suffering. We can’t find work, we can't make any money, we can’t get married, we can’t put food on the table. We can’t do anything in Gaza.” “Their [Hamas’] leaders ruined Gaza beyond hope and turned it into a place of misery, and yet they live luxurious lifestyles," added Ramy, who refused to reveal his full name. Ramy, a demonstrator who was hit in the shoulder with a baton while protesting in Bani Suheila town, told Al-Monitor, “They [Hamas’ security forces] barbarically attacked us even though the protests were completely peaceful. ... They don’t care. They don’t even pretend to care about us.” Aside from Israel's blockade of Gaza, many protesters believe that Hamas’ mismanagement also played a big part in the deterioration of economic conditions. The difficult living conditions have also left a toll on mental health. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a 2022 report that one third of Gaza’s population is in need of mental health services and psychosocial support. According to recent estimates by the UN, the food insecurity rate in Gaza stands at around 63%, while poverty rates reached 65% in 2022. Meanwhile, 45% of the Gaza population is unemployed, with youth unemployment rates reaching 73.9%, according to 2022 data by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The Gaza Strip has been under a tight Israeli blockade since 2007, which has destroyed the economy and worsened living conditions for the 2.2 million people living in the coastal territory. Hamas’ security forces cracked down on the peaceful protesters and assaulted several people with batons. Dozens of protesters were injured and many had to be hospitalized. One was wounded by a live bullet on the Abu al-Jedian square in north Gaza. The protests came in response to calls by activists on social media, which grew stronger as the electricity crisis worsened in the past month, with Gazans barely getting five hours of power daily amid a scorching heat wave. In some areas, protesters also called for ending the Palestinian division, repeating slogans such as, “The people want the end of division” and “Abbas and Haniyeh, the people are the victims,” referring to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Masses gathered in Gaza City, Nuseirat, Khan Yunis, the Jabaliya refugee camp, Rafah, Bani Suheila and Shujaiya. The protesters chanted, “Hamas leave us be,” “We want to live,” and “The people want the fall of the regime.” The protests are politically, economically and socially driven, as living conditions and power outages in Gaza have become unbearable. Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets last Sunday and again this Friday in various areas of the Gaza Strip in rare public protests against Hamas, which has ruled the enclave since 2006. KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip — Years of successive crises in the besieged Gaza Strip have seemingly reached a boiling point, with Gazans erupting in anger against the Hamas movement in the last two weeks. ____________________________________________________ timesofisrael.com/ TUESDAY 8 August 2023 July 30, thousands of people throughout the Gaza Strip [demonstrated] in a rare display of public anger against the Hamas regime.The following Friday, August 4, hundreds of people rallied again ... under the slogan “We want to live” — the same slogan used in the last round of protests in March-April 2019. The [organizer is] an anonymous Instagram account ... “Al-Virus Al-Sakher,” or “The Mocking Virus,” [with] 160,000 followers [including anti-Hamas activists in exile] urging Gazans to take to the streets…. ...[Additional protests were scheduled throughout the strip for Monday, August 7, but Hamas fielded a heavy civilian and military presence, armed and with vehicles, a TOI source inside Gaza said Tuesday]…. But on social media, at least, it appears that the protest movement is maintaining its momentum. “People are much more outspoken against Hamas on social media today than they were 10 or five years ago,” said Rami Aman, a prominent Gazan peace activist living in Cairo [since 2021, a continuing] critic of the terror group that rules the enclave. “Back then, people would not dare make their opinions heard online for fear of retaliation.” Aman, the founder of a grassroots youth empowerment group called the “Gaza Youth Committee,” was arrested by Hamas several times[, with] one seven-month imprisonment in 2020 after he organized [an illegal/criminal] Zoom meeting between Gazans and Israelis…. “Today, if you look at the official social media pages of Hamas and its ministries, you find a plethora of critical comments, with people writing openly from their Facebook accounts, showing their name and profile picture,” [Aman said]. “You will find more positive comments on the Facebook page of the ‘Coordinator’ than on the pages of Hamas these days,” he said, referencing the Israeli Defense Ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs. “There is not a single family in Gaza that has not suffered at the hands of Hamas in one way or another, because of arrests or persecution. People are tired of having no opportunities and no way out. The only way to make a decent living is to be affiliated with Hamas. If you want to apply for a government job, you need a letter from your mosque… In the meantime, Hamas leadership live in nice villas, drive expensive cars and eat in fancy restaurants. And the top leaders, of course, don’t live in Gaza at all.” Protests long in the making [Popular discontent with Hamas has smoldered ever since the 2007 take-over war against the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority. Among several large-scale protests were those] in April 2015, January 2017 and again in 2019. Each time ... repressed by Hamas security forces [leading to no] significant changes for the local population. [According to Rami Aman, Khan Younis has historically opposed Hamas Rule because most of its residents are native Gazans, with about 2/3 of the rest of strip population descended from 1948 Palestinian refugees.] The current round of popular outrage was sparked by the accidental killing by local authorities of a resident of Khan Younis, Shadi Abu Quta, on July 27. Abu Quta became trapped under a wall of his own house as it was being demolished by a municipality bulldozer, with authorities alleging the wall impinged on a public road. Abu Quta died while holding in his hand a document proving his ownership of the building as authorities proceeded to demolish it. Hamas [officially condemned the incident, fired Khan Younis’ mayor, and paid compensation money to Abu Quta’s family, but social media spread video of the incident, and spontaneous protests erupted, video’s in turn.] In one video, a man holding] a black abaya — a full-body woman’s dress — that he found on the street, shouts: “Let the man who accepts this injustice and says that he is pro-Hamas come to me and I will put this dress on him. To the woman of Khan Younis who threw off this dress, good for you!” [And] social media activists ...declared a day of rage [against Hamas] ( some called outright for a “revolution” ) on Sunday, July 30, demanding an end to the electricity shortage [and] disbursement of salary arrears to government workers…. [Hamas was caught too off guard to crack down heavily on the July 30 demonstrations. Most ended peacefully, if with incidents reported of police destroying cellphones of bystanders filming, and violent confrontations between protesters and Hamas advocates who accused protest organizers of being agents of Mossad or of the Mukhabarat, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority’s security services,] [Protesters countered that their movement is indigenous, it’s sole motive] to demand “electricity, work, food, dignity and basic rights like citizens in any other country...,” [There also were reports that Hamas forces stormed a hospital in Rafah and kidnapped three injured protesters being treated there.] One journalist, Walid Abdel Rahman, was assaulted by Hamas security forces while he was filming a demonstration in the Jabalia refugee camp, and forced to stop reporting. The incident was condemned by the International Federation of Arab Press, which demanded journalistic freedom and accountability for the perpetrators. [According to local protesters, Hamas rounded up dozens of them on learning of the planned August 4 demonstrations,] Videos on social media showed Hamas security forces deploying in large numbers throughout the Strip on Friday morning, hours before the start of the protests. Hamas also rallied its own base and organized counter-protests in support of the regime. Rebuke from other Palestinian factions [Among anti-Hamas Palestinian political forces issuing statements denouncing Hamas violece against the spontaneous uprising were the] Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA) and the Socialist Palestinian People’s Party, two smaller parties affiliated with the PLO … emphasizing the right of citizens to peaceful demonstration, and urging Hamas to start tackling Gaza’s numerous problems. [interviewed on Voice of Palestine radio, PLO-affiliated Palestinian Arab Front secretary general, Salim al-Bardeni called the uprising unsurprising even for Gazans who’d voted for Hamas in the 2nd and so far last/2006 election, in view of Hamas reneging on all its slogans and not improving infrastructure, services or utilities:] “Hamas sucks the blood of our people in the Gaza Strip, through its rule over it and the transfer of its money abroad...” A question of timing [In an interview with TOI, Gaza Al-Azhar University political science professor Mkhaimar Abusada said the July 30 protests did not by mere chance occur while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was attending the Egypt reconciliation summit of Palestinian factions organized by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah.] “… The situation in Gaza today is not as bad as [during the last large-scale protests, March 2019, when] the PA in Ramallah had demanded that Israel reduce the supply of electricity to Gaza as a punitive measure against Hamas… in the last four years, Qatar has been footing the electricity bill for Gaza [and] donating $30 million each month to subsidize the salaries of Hamas government employees and provide aid to poor families, [so] the situation has somewhat improved...] “Still, 70 percent of the Gazan population receives food aid from international humanitarian organizations, and unemployment stands at 45%. The work permits granted by Israel to about 17,000 Gazan laborers are only a drop in the ocean … Every year, tens of thousands of young Gazans finish college, but they have no employment opportunities, and nowhere else to go. [Abusada said the July 30 rallies also opposed the division between Hamas and Fatah, that almost all Gazans consider their poverty, unemployment and other miseries] “the result of the political schism, and the separation between Gaza and the West Bank. They wanted their leaders to hear their message,” [Abusada] predicted, however, that the protest movement would soon die out. Power to the people [Under a regime that outlaws political dissent], electricity has become the rallying cry for citizens to express their grievances. [Abusada explained that Gaza’s 2.3 million population gets much of its electric supply from Israel, augmented by a single local power plant that has never run at full capacity, one of its four generators solely an emergency backup for failure of any of the rest. Demand far outweighs supply, with harsh limitations and shortages caused by constant power outages severely stressing Strip residents. Food spoils in refrigerators, people live and work in temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius/104 Fahrenheit with only intermittent air conditioning, and wastewater plants have to dump] untreated water into the sea, causing major pollution both in Gaza and on the adjacent Israeli beaches. [Early in July, local Al-Watan radio journalist Abdel Hamid Abdel Atti started the #Fourth-Generator social media campaign] to pressure local authorities to solve the ongoing power crisis. [Atti, In an Al-Monitor interview, questioned] whether Hamas makes proper use of the money it collects from Gaza’s residents for electricity. [Zafer Melhem], chairman of the PA’s Energy Authority in Ramallah, which foots the bill for the electricity feed to Gaza from Israel, said in an al-Monitor interview] the Hamas-run electricity company in Gaza collects NIS 35-40 million ($9.4 to $10.8 million) per month from Gazans in electricity bills, but a large part of that goes unaccounted for. A prominent Hamas opponent living in Europe estimated that [the power plant needs only NIS 5 million monthly to operate, implying that] Hamas embezzles the remaining NIS 30 million. The numbers could not be independently verified. Qatar [recently began buying fuel for the fourth generator, thanks to which, Gazans] now receive electricity for eight hours at a time (up from six), followed by eight hours of blackout (down from 12)…. Qatar’s [lifeline role to Gaza] is seen by many as a double-edged sword. “You always see Qatar providing cash assistance to Gaza, rebuilding roads and houses after Israeli attacks, they even built a hospital. But you never see them opening a factory,” said Rami Aman, the Gazan peace activist exiled in Egypt. “It’s as if they did not want the Gazan economy to develop, as if they wanted to keep us dependent on their aid.” Voice of dissent [Mustafa (not his real name) — a mid-30s anti-Hamas activist living in Gaza who spoke with TOI by email on condition of total anonymity, described life under the rule of Hamas and the Israeli blockade as an “open-air prison”, adding the over 70% youth unemployment and average daily income of NIS 20, or $5.5, to poor electricity, undrinkable tap water, and drastic deprivation for those citizens — the majority —] not somehow tied to Hamas. [He said] Leaving the Strip requires at least $10,000 to be smuggled out illegally, with high chances of dying on the way to freedom … because “Gazan civilians are exploited as a pawn in a struggle between regional forces, and Hamas uses [them] as human shields to defend ... ‘Islamic resistance’ while [silencing, spying on, and threatening all opposition.] A professional who describes himself as a “liberal and a democrat” interested in “humanitarian issues and free citizenship,” Mustafa estimated that the [July 30] wave of demonstrations [had] only just begun, since in his view the protesters’ demands are not limited to [economics], but aimed at ultimately overthrowing “the military regime and the rule of the clerics.” [Regarding relations with Israel, Mustafa wished for] a Palestinian government with “new, clear and rational policies toward Israel and the occupation army, without regional alliances,” [i.e., without the involvement of Iran etc]. [“We’re regarded] as terrorists, not as people with dreams and aspirations … But the reality is ... Most [Gazans] are innocent civilians in dire humanitarian conditions. They only dream of a decent life, freedom, justice, peace and democratic elections. “You can divide the people of Gaza in two: a large majority living under the poverty line, and a small ruling elite affiliated with Hamas and other Islamist factions, who live off the funding received by the ‘resistance,”...<’/big> [From his own peace activist perspective, Mustafa saw the demonstrations not coming out of thin air, but instead expressing] the “conviction of the Gazan people that peace is the solution. Gazans want an end to the occupation and the Israeli siege, and they want an end to the bloodshed that has been going on for so many years.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/22/2200748/-GAZA-S-SUMMER2023-ANTI-HAMAS-PROTESTS-we-failed-to-notice-the-almost-revolution-It-s-gone-now?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/