Ordinary Gazans are bearing the brunt of the 8-month Israeli military onslaught on the territory and many blame the Palestinian armed faction for starting the war.
More Gazans have even been willing to speak out against Hamas, risking retribution.
In interviews with nearly a dozen Gaza residents in recent months, a number of them said they held Hamas responsible for starting the war and helping to bring death and destruction upon them, even as they blame Israel first and foremost.
One Gazan, Raed al-Kelani, 47, said Hamas always acts in its own interests.
“It started Oct. 7, and it wants to end it on its own terms,” said Mr. al-Kelani, who worked as a civil servant for the former Palestinian Authority government in Gaza, which was run by a rival faction to Hamas before Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007.
“But time is ticking with no potential hope of ending this,” he added. Mr. al-Kelani now makes meals and distributes food aid in shelters for displaced Gazans. “Hamas is still seeking its slice of power,” he said. “Hamas does not know how to get down from the tree it climbed.”
Is Hamas bad? Yes.
Is attacking Israel, killing festival goers, and kidnappings people bad? Absolutely.
Does anything that Hamas has done recently or since its inception justify genocide? That’s a resounding no.
Being against oppression, ethnic cleansing and genocide does not mean that one supports Hamas.
100%, yes. Unfortunately, these times breed anger and hate, whether that’s accusations of supporting Hamas towards people merely opposing Israel’s genocide or accusations of supporting said genocide levied at people just for being Jewish.
We need to put the blame squarely where it belongs - on both Hamas and the Netanyahu regime. The ordinary folks that just want to live in peace, whether Palestinian or Israeli, are not the problem.
The primary problem is Israel, of course civilians want this to end. Israel set the conditions for Hamas to exist, plain and simple.
Hamas is the last option left after more progressive options have been destroyed by Israel over the years. Netanyahu funds Hamas.
They’ve been beaten down and are broken. They don’t want to fight anymore. They just want it to end.
Problem is, it will never and as long as Israël exists. It is their mandate to eliminate all Palestinians. Any proposal for a ceasefire is turned down by Israel. So do Palestinians really have a choice at this point?
Israel and Hamas have both proposed ceasefire deals but have not been able to agree on terms. The previous permanent ceasefire was broken on Oct 7 by Hamas.
And the slowly encroaching settler attacks, blockade, and occupation was just what? A special military operation?
Just FYI, there have not been settlers in Gaza for about 2 decades. The Egyptian-Israeli blockade was being gradually lifted as Hamas fulfilled it’s obligations of diminished attacks and good faith cooperation.
Right, but there have been settlers in West Bank. They’re still Palestinians being harmed. And life in Gaza isn’t sunshine and roses for most Palestinians, either.
Palestine is Palestine, drawing lines through it doesn’t change that. Settlers terrorizing people who can’t fight back only means that people who can fight for them will do so.
EDIT: putting “Egyptian” before “israeli” also doesn’t change the fact that israel controls both sides of the border.
Holding a music festival on stolen land just a few hundred meters from people living under Israel’s boot is a pretty big provocation.
There will never be peace as long as Israel makes the Palestinians live without justice.
If your take is that some kids celebrating music and peace justifies a brutal massacre, then we have no common humanity to begin a discussion.
“Some kids” is a hell of a way to refer to Israelis subject to mandatory conscription into the military that oppresses Palestinians.
Without justice there cannot be peace, and Israel is an apartheid state.
A ceasefire under the barrel of a gun is merely a postponement of future war.
How long had that “ceasefire” been going?
May 2021, but I’m sure you could have googled that.
Yeah I was confused about what you meant because of this: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/03/palestinians-killed-israeli-strike-west-bank-jenin
And all of this: https://pchrgaza.org/en/israeli-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-weekly-update-27-september-04-october-2023/
It seems like there was never a cease fire? Israel has been firing the whole time. And before you say that most of this was in the West Bank, it is all attacks on Palestine. Just because it has been broken up doesn’t make the people different and I don’t think Hamas and other militant groups see this as anything other than Israel attacking Palestine. Hamas called October 7th “Al-Aqsa Flood” for a reason.
I mean if Hamas and Israel both consider it a ceasefire, let’s by all means ignore that and defer to a random Lemmy user.
Yeah there were lots of thing that might have seemed like they violated the ceasefire:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-58183968
https://www.tv7israelnews.com/gaza-fires-rocket-barrage-at-israel/
I mean if Hamas and Israel both consider it a ceasefire, let’s by all means ignore that and defer to a random Lemmy user.
I’m not asking for deference, we both just found examples of continuing conflict. Why would you describe this as a ceasefire? You don’t need to believe me, just use your brain.
If two people are punching each other in the face but insist they are not fighting, what do we believe: them, or our own eyes?
It is obvious. Those hypothetical people are fighting. And likewise, there was no ceasefire.
