+972 Magazine, an Israeli publication describes itself as an, "Independent, online, nonprofit magazine run by a group of Palestinian and Israeli journalists," which frequently uses the term "Apartheid" to describe Israel's policies.
One of its writers, Mahmoud Mushtaha, has an interesting report which appears to indicate that Gazans are increasingly angry at Hamas for the October 7 attacks, not because they felt that they were somehow unjustified, but because they were completely ineffective in achieving an independent Palestinian state, or even increased autonomy.
As I have noted earlier, Hamas' goal is the destruction of the state of Israel, and prior to the October 7 attacks, they had actually gone so far as to assign draw up plans for administrative districts and ministries after they had conquered Israel.
The Palestinian community is not monolithic, with some wanting an independent state in a close relationship with Israel, some wanting an independent state largely separate from Israel, and the crazies who think that they can overthrow Israel and replace it with an Islamic republic.
In Gaza at least, the first two groups are rather sick and tired of the 3rd group:
For 10 long and grueling months, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been left alone to face a genocide. We Gazans have had to endure the consequences of decisions we had no hand in, bearing severe hardships that the world has grown accustomed to and largely forgotten.
Undoubtedly, the primary source of our misery is Israel — an occupying, apartheid state, whose soldiers kill with brutal indifference, and which has sought to erase Palestinians since 1948. But we must also consider the role that Palestinian factions are playing in our ongoing suffering.
What has become clear over the past 10 months is that the Palestinian leadership — both Fatah and Hamas — has abandoned the people without any forethought or a coherent plan. While Gazans face relentless Israeli bombardment with no safe place to turn to, Hamas evades its responsibility to protect the population and Fatah is nowhere to be found.
As the war has dragged on, displays of public opposition to or criticism of Hamas have grown among Palestinians in Gaza. Many accuse Hamas of failing to anticipate the ferocity of Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks, and hold the group partially accountable for the dire consequences they are now facing. For Palestinian journalist Ahmed Hadi (whose name has been changed for his safety, along with everyone interviewed in this article), October 7 was “a crazy decision for us as Gazans.” The attack, he argued, and particularly “the killing and capturing of Israelis, some of whom were civilians and not soldiers, unfortunately had a counterproductive effect on us. It granted Israel global sympathy and provided it with a justification to launch a brutal war on Gaza.”
This is a paraphrase of the (not) Tallyrand quote, "It is worse than a crime, it is a mistake."
………
Adel Sultan is a 62-year-old from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. He spoke to +972 Magazine about his utter desperation for the war to come to an end. “Save those of us who are still alive, end the war, and give us a chance to recover,” he exclaimed. “We no longer recognize ourselves; our faces have changed from this ongoing war consuming us.”
Sultan voiced his frustration with the Palestinian leadership, calling on them to agree to a ceasefire with Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government as a matter of urgency. “Those who started it should end it. Where are our leaders? Let them sit with the occupation government and end the war before it ends us, as Netanyahu wants.”………
Many Palestinians in Gaza understand the Hamas-led October 7 attack as the outcome of decades of Israeli occupation and prolonged siege of the Strip. They fully comprehend the concept of personal sacrifice for the goal of national liberation. Yet they fault Hamas for its lack of preparation in the aftermath of its attack, and reject having to suffer for no apparent gain.
Here is an interesting data point, though I would say that it is unreliable, not because of the source, but because polling in a war zone is inherently unreliable, something that the pollster acknowledges:
………
These sentiments are reflected in a recent poll by the Institute for Social and Economic Progress, an independent Palestinian research organization. According to the study, less than 5 percent of Palestinians in Gaza want Hamas to rule in a post-war transition government, and a majority expects the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority to take over the Strip. Nearly 85 percent of Gazans oppose Sinwar, and only slightly fewer opposed Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel last week in Tehran.
It's interesting, and were it translated into action, perhaps a group that wasn't batsh%$ insane like Hamas, and wasn't incompetent and corrupt like Fatah might become a factor in the Palestinian polity, this would be good.
But I am not holding my breath..
0 comments :
Post a Comment