Palestinian activists have called on social media for mass protests against Hamas and its continued rule over the Gaza Strip, setting June 26 as a day of demonstrations across the enclave, in a repeat of earlier movements that were suppressed in past years.
The activists have named the campaign the “June 26 Revolution,” calling on people to take to the streets to demand a dignified life under the slogan: “For a better life and a promising future ... the people’s right to decide their fate.”
Facebook debate
Journalist and activist Abdul Hamid Abdul Ati was the first to call for and adopt the movement. A Gaza resident, he left for Egypt with his family during the war after a previous bombardment killed and wounded many of his relatives.
In a series of posts and tweets to his thousands of followers, Abdul Ati said: “The movement is not against anyone. It is for the public interest and to save what can be saved from a reality that weighs heavily on the people of Gaza ... We are one people, bound by pain and a shared fate. Our aim is to extend a helping hand to our people and search for a way out of this harsh predicament. Difference of opinion does not justify threats, and unity remains the shortest path to protecting everyone.”
Activists known for opposing Hamas, including some who joined or called for similar movements years ago, backed Abdul Ati’s call and urged Gazans to take part. The appeal triggered a storm of reactions, some critical and others supportive.
Most of those calling for participation are now outside the strip, having left during the war or, in some cases, years earlier, after being detained by the Hamas government over similar events. Fewer voices inside Gaza have backed the movement, most of them less influential than other figures who remain in the enclave and have stayed silent.
Accusations and intimidation
As public debate widened, Hamas-affiliated media kept trying to discredit the movement and those behind it. Hamas controls part of the Gaza Strip after Israel seized more than 60% of the territory.
Activists aligned with the group mounted similar campaigns, accusing the organizers of serving foreign agendas and exploiting Israel’s escalation to launch the movement. They said those outside the strip had no right to speak for people living in displacement tents, shelters and other sites while they themselves lived abroad.
Abdul Ati said the accusations by Hamas and its supporters against him and other organizers abroad were an attempt to dodge the core issue.
“A Palestinian remains Palestinian wherever he is, whether in Gaza, the West Bank or the diaspora, and he has the right to speak about his people’s suffering and express his opinion freely,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He said, “The movement has no foreign agendas and does not seek to serve one side at the expense of another. It is born of a reality people live every day and of clear popular demands everyone knows: dignity, justice, genuine representation and an end to collapse. It is not a conspiracy, but a natural right of any people.”
He said Gaza’s accumulated crises had pushed him and many journalists, activists and others to raise their voices. He strongly denied that they were trying to exploit the current situation in the strip as Israeli escalation continues.
“What is needed is not to exploit anyone, but to listen to people and respect their right to express their opinions and legitimate demands,” he said.
Abdul Ati added: “The goal of the movement at this stage is to carry the voice of the people and their real suffering to the world, and to demand their right to a dignified life, security and stability. We believe confronting Israeli aggression is a national priority, but that does not cancel citizens’ right to express their pain and legitimate demands after long years of war, poverty, displacement and suffering ... The revolution is not against the people or their steadfastness. It is a movement for the Palestinian person and his right to a better future, for strong national institutions, sound political life, and a popular will that is heard and respected.”
Abdul Ati and other activists played down threats they said had targeted their families, saying they would press ahead with the movement.
Right to protest
Activists rejected claims that the movement betrayed the sacrifices of Palestinians killed during the war. They said residents had the right to protest and demand a dignified life, adding that those expected to take to the streets were the same people who had lost children and homes, were living in tents, and were queuing for water and charity kitchens.
Dr. Jamil Abdul-Nabi, a leader in Islamic Jihad in northern Gaza, said in a Facebook post that residents had the right to express their anger after disasters that words could not describe. He has repeatedly said his positions represent him personally.
“The least we can do is give them the right to scream from the intensity of the pain,” he said, describing accusations of “treason” against such a movement as part of dictatorship and a justification for repression.
Hamas anger
The movement’s reverberations appear to have moved beyond exchanges of accusations between activists on both sides, and even beyond interventions by activists affiliated with other factions such as Fatah. They have reached the official level inside Hamas, where the group has shown anger.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a press statement: “There are those who are rushing the fall of our great movement, relying on the promises of a stupid enemy. All of them will wait a long time, then be surprised by a movement that is more deeply rooted in its people and more present. These are authentic people who always stand with their blessed sons who are sincere in their love for their homeland. They will remain so, and these great people will remain loyal to them.”
A day later, Qassem said Hamas places the higher interest of the Palestinian people at the heart of its political and diplomatic activity, in a way that would allow the war to stop, open a new horizon for reconstruction, and enable the national committee for Gaza to be managed professionally to launch a real relief operation easing the scale of the catastrophe in the enclave.
That appeared to be an indirect reference to the movement’s demands for a better life, especially an end to the suffering of people living in displacement tents.
Analysts and media figures aligned with Hamas and factions close to it, including Hassan Lafi, said the movement could harm efforts to pull Gaza out of its crises and could create “major internal strife in Gaza under the title of undermining what remains of civil and social peace.”
Asharq Al-Awsat has learned that the security services of the Hamas government have been ordered to remain on alert on the day set for the protests and to intervene only when necessary, in a way that protects personnel from Israeli attacks.
Israeli forces have frequently targeted police officers and government security personnel recently as they tried to control security and resolve disputes between families, killing and wounding many of them.
