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Source: http://www.thestar.com/World/Columnist/article/533841
Gaza Under Hamas Rule
[Toronto Star] Oakland Ross - They don't kidnap foreigners in Gaza anymore, or they haven't done so in more than a year. The gunmen and masked thugs who once haunted the streets of Gaza have been forced out of business, along with the private militias who used to maraud through the territory. A year and a half after the radical Islamist group Hamas seized power, people can walk in public without fearing for their wallets, their purses or their lives. Unfortunately, almost everything else has become worse. Whom do people blame? They blame Israel, of course. But increasingly, it seems, they blame Hamas as well. "Fatah perceives themselves as the sole representatives of the Palestinians," said Ahmed Abu Tawahina, director-general of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program. "Hamas perceives themselves as the ambassadors of God on Earth."