I’m never going to get tired of referring to this lying op-ed the New York Times published:
“Palestinians want, on their terms, the same thing Western societies want: self-determination, modernity, access to markets and their own economic power, and freedom for civil society to evolve.â€
[…] Our stated aim when we won the election was to effect reform, end corruption and bring economic prosperity to our people. Our sole focus is Palestinian rights and good governance. We now hope to create a climate of peace and tranquillity within our community
And I mean never. Because this is the “freedom” that Hamas has brought to Gaza:
Gaza’s Hamas rulers issued an edict Wednesday banning journalists from working in the coastal strip unless they submit to sweeping press restrictions, and it said it would soon impose new restraints on public gatherings.
The moves, which follow the arrests of hundreds of opposition activists, appeared to be part of an intensifying clampdown after the Islamic militant group was confronted with a mass demonstration called by the rival Fatah movement that led to violence.
I love it. They’re managing to make themselves more hated than the kleptocrats of Fatah. One of the things that the Palestinian-on-the-street keeps saying is that at least Fatah didn’t kill their own people. (Not really true, but hey, I’m not going to argue with anything that lowers Hamas’ stock in the eyes of Gazans.) It looks like the average Mahmoud and Mariam may soon have their fill of Hamas tyranny.
The crackdown began toward the end of Monday’s protest, when Hamas police fired on hundreds of people throwing stones. Eight civilians were killed and dozens wounded by gunfire.
Hamas later rounded up more than 400 Fatah activists, and it followed up Wednesday by announcing media restrictions and saying it planned to curb public assemblies.
Gaza’s Interior Ministry said journalists who do not hold Hamas-issued press cards would not be allowed to work in the territory.
[…] Interior Ministry spokesman Ihab Ghussen said the government also planned to impose as yet undefined restrictions on “any rally, march or public event” in Gaza.
Can’t you just hear Richie Havens in the background? The sounds of freedom in Gaza apparently equal the sounds of gunshots, screams of civilians, and the howls of protest at being unable to report the news or attend public gatherings.
And there’s this lovely bit of irony about the location of the Gaza Foreign Press Association:
The Tel Aviv-based Foreign Press Association, representing foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian areas, condemned what it called “harassment of Palestinian journalists in Gaza by Hamas security forces.”
That’s right. They’re based in Israel, because they know damned well what would happen to them if they were in the Palestinian areas. Kneecapping is rather a frequent occupational hazard for Palestinian journalists. Then there’s always the Alan Johnston example. Foreign reporters hightailed it out of Gaza and never went back. Not that I blame them. But the Hamas point was made. They manufacture the news.
Freedom… freedom… I can hear Richie in my head… yep. Hamas just wants the Palestinians to be free. It’s just that some people are more free than others.