[Atlanta Journal-Constitution] Reda Mansour - Gaza should be freed from Hamas, a terrorist organization that seized the strip by force in June 2007. Since the takeover, Hamas has run Gaza's economy into the ground. Hamas has built a Taliban-style state in Gaza and introduced many of the Islamic Shari'a laws, institutionalizing the persecution of women and minorities. Hamas has transformed Gaza from a free territory to a large bunker, a place where rockets are stored under families, schools and places of prayer. Gaza should also be freed from the intervention of Iran, a state that openly admits to financing Hamas. As far as Israel is concerned, Gaza is free and it is the decision of its inhabitants whether they continue to buy into the self-defeating promises of terrorist organizations and extremist ideologies. And continue to let these organizations use them as human shields and demolish their hopes and futures. Gazans can only truly be free by declaring Gaza a terror-free zone. The writer is consul general of Israel to the Southeast U.S.
2009-01-09 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive