The Palestinian cause's huge gains, manifested in shifts in global public opinion, deserve to be celebrated and inspire optimism. Optimism not only regarding the Palestinians' rights but also justice in the world we live in and its propensity for transformation. But this gain seeks Palestinian investment in it, engagement with it, someone to grasp at its justice dimension, tied to anti-racism and countering discrimination, and to build on it.
Is this available today among Palestinians?
While some Hamas leaders were talking to European and US media outlets in a language "the West likes to hear," last Sunday, Hamas held a rally in North Gaza to "honor the martyrs' families." Its orator was Mr. Fathi Hammad, a member of the movement's politburo who had been interior minister between 2009 and 2014.
Hammad talked in a language he assumes "we like to hear."
The war, in his view, seemed to be a religious war first and foremost, and he promised the enemies only "the sword," moving his fingers gently and deliberately on his neck as he made them. A father to 24 children, he repeatedly demanded "men's men" and emphasized the treachery of "the Jews," keeping the word under his tongue thereafter and stressing on the word "Zionists" instead. Local news agencies omitted his reference to Jews, but the man has a history of extreme anti-Semitism: in a speech in the summer of 2019, he called for "killing the Jews everywhere," only to swiftly retract his statement, with his movement walking back on in with him.
The satellite channel that Hammad established under the name "Al-Aqsa TV" can't address Islamists not affiliated with Hamas, like Islamic Jihad, for example, let alone address global public opinion. His time as interior minister is brimming with "achievements" that are available to those who seek them at the nearest archive.
Here are some of them:
• A qualitative exacerbation of violations and attacks against journalists in Gaza during this period.
• Prohibiting girls, in 2009, from riding on motorcycles behind men and prohibiting women from dancing.
In 2010, he banned women from smoking shisha in public- aiming to "reduce the increasing divorce rate." Women were also prohibited from seeking the services of male hairdressers, with those who violate the rule threatened with arrest and prosecution. Broad opposition hindered Hamas' plan, so it viciously pressured hairdressers to stop. Five barbers, after being tortured, signed declarations pledging that they would not work in women's beauty salons, many of which were bombed. That same year, the security services shut down a hip-hop event on the grounds that its organizers had not obtained a permit.
After accusing UNRWA of "teaching female students physical education, dancing and debauchery," a summer camp run by the international agency was attacked, large plastic tents were torn down, and warehouses were burned to the ground. The Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza described the incident as an "attack on children's happiness." Right activists added that "Hamas has intensified its efforts to impose stringent Islamic teaching in Gaza."
Indeed, ‘Crazy Water Park,’ among the most popular recreational destinations in the Strip, was forced to close down for allowing mixed swimming. Later on, a group of "unknown" gunmen set the place on fire...
In 2013, UNRWA canceled its annual marathon in Gaza after an official decision to ban women from participating in it. The singing competition ‘Arab Idol’ was also classified as immoral and "a crime against the cause of our people."
In late 2014, Fatah accused Fathi Hammad of being behind the bombing of its leaders' homes in Gaza.
These practices and others have led some to compare the rule of Hamas in Gaza to the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan. It is preventing the air from reaching Gazans' chests. Others have raised questions about links between Hammad and ISIS in Sinai.
"Telling the West what it likes to hear" cannot be depended on in this case. It does not save the people of Gaza from being a jailer no less cruel than any occupier, and it could, at any moment, stir up a civil war, the occupier cannot.
What we can be sure of regarding Hammad and those like him, is that we are not faced with a party that could address global public opinion and share its values. Instead, we are facing the party assaulting Palestinian public opinion and threatening the most beautiful of its values, as well as its women, educated people, journalists, middle class, those with political convictions different from those it holds, and every aspirant to some degree of freedom.
This is a massive conundrum facing Palestinian national politics that leaves every drop of water dropped into its palm slipping through its fingers. The despondency is exacerbated by the fact that Fatah and its Palestinian Authority have become totally inept, and their revival has become dependent on the outside and the support that the foreign countries may provide alone. In other words, we are, once again, facing two groups: a slow, impotent, conservative group rushing to catch up with developments and a radical group that has nothing to offer but the whip, ideology, and a massive prison for its people. The former congratulates Bashar al-Assad on his "re-election" as president of Syria, and the latter thanks him for his support.
This missing link between the world's transformations and the means for effectively receiving them is a huge question facing a people, who deserve much more than what their leaders and spokesmen can offer.
