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"Whispered in Gaza," Local Residents Challenge Hamas
(Times of Israel) The Center for Peace Communications, a New York nonprofit, has produced a series of short, animated interviews with residents of Gaza conducted in 2022. Gazan men and women describe their professional disenfranchisement by Hamas and the repression of their personal freedoms. They tell of arbitrary arrests, shakedowns of merchants, and the silencing of journalists. They also denounce Hamas for starting wars with Israel it cannot win while hiding in bunkers and leaving civilians to suffer casualties. They convey an understanding of Hamas warfare as a play for aid money. "There's nepotism in everything here," according to Ashraf. "You need friends in the Hamas-run electric company to get a break on your bill. You'll be taxed exorbitantly otherwise - especially if you happen to be among the 17,000 Gazans with a permit to work in Israel." Amna wants her children to have a decent education, "to think rationally...and live a modern life." She fears sending them to Hamas-run schools "because that's where they indoctrinate people," instructing children "how they can go to heaven" through martyrdom, "and I don't want my kids to be exposed to that indoctrination." Hisham says, "Nowadays, it's not an occupier who is killing me," but rather Hamas, which imposes crushing taxes, leaving Gazans in abject poverty, while its officials have "land, businesses, and vast sums of money." A June 2022 poll by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy found that large majorities of Gazans "are frustrated with Hamas governance," and that 84% prioritize "internal political and economic reform over foreign policy issues."