Thousands of Palestinians chanted against Hamas during anti-war protests last week in the Gaza Strip, the biggest show of anger at the militant group since its attack on Israel ignited the war.

Protesters said they were venting anger and desperation as they endure a new round of war and displacement after Israel ended a ceasefire. They leveled unusually direct criticism at Hamas even while remaining furious at Israel, the United States and others for their plight.

Public expressions of dissent have been extremely rare since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. The militant group has violently dispersed occasional protests and jailed, tortured or killed those who challenged its rule. Hamas has faced no significant internal challenge since the start of the war and still controls Gaza, despite losing most of its top leaders and thousands of fighters.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      9 days ago

      Mostly no? Struggling authoritarian states seek, among other things, war, but they do not as a rule commit genocide. That’s mostly a fascist thing.

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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          9 days ago

          I never said authoritarian states can’t commit genocide, but rather that they usually don’t use it as a way to support their regimes unless they turn fascist. The Holodomor was a way for Stalin to suppress Ukrainian independence, while the other three were long-running ethnic conflicts exacerbated by malicious and/or incompetent European decolonization.

            • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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              9 days ago

              The point I’m trying to make is that Hamas won’t turn to genocide simply to gain popularity (though I do expect quite a few massacres); either they’ll do it even if they’re popular or they won’t even if they’re unpopular, and I’m leaning towards the latter.

              • biofaust@lemmy.world
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                9 days ago

                I also don’t think that Hamas will commit genocide. They will commit, as usual, terrorist attacks and keeping them in power is instrumental to the genocide perpetrated by Israel.