The sad truth is, when Israelis aren't involved, no one is interested in advocating for the Palestinian rights they claim to care about so d
"Since the start of the current war between Israel and Hamas, Hamas has committed countless atrocities against its own people in Gaza. This was true even before the war. Yet somehow, despite the fact that Hamas has effectively kidnapped the Gaza strip and all its inhabitants and routinely terrorizes them, these crimes are never reported by Arabic media or western media, nor by global human rights organizations, all of which tend to portray Hamas as a legitimate resistance group who are trying to "liberate" the Palestinians.
This absence of Hamas's crimes against Palestinians in the media is not for want of evidence. Many Gazans have raised concerns about the brutality of this regime, which they have witnessed first hand. And not just witnessed; there have been many videos posted on social media platforms showing Gazans criticizing Hamas and blaming Hamas for the current disastrous situation in Gaza.
Without a doubt, many civilians have been killed by IDF airstrikes. Yet each time that happens, those incidents make headlines across media channels. But somehow, when it comes to Hamas' crimes against innocent Israelis and innocent Gazans, the entire media establishment turns a blind eye, trying to present a misleading black and white narrative about this conflict.
Why?
If their heart bleeds for Gaza, why are they not outraged at all of the violence that Gazans face—including the violence of Hamas?
The sad truth is, when Israelis aren't involved, no one is interested in advocating for the Palestinian rights they claim to care about so deeply.
We Gazans attempted several times to remove Hamas from power. In 2019 and in 2023, the people of Gaza held peaceful marches against Hamas; for this crime, we were brutally assaulted by Hamas militants. Hamas imprisoned over 1,300 protestors at each protest.
I was one of them. I was personally imprisoned by Hamas and tortured twice, because I participated in these protests.
So I know firsthand that when ordinary Gazans like myself protested against Hamas, there was no media attention. No human rights organizations demanded the release of prisoners held for months in Hamas prisons, not to mention those who were tortured by Hamas, and even killed by Hamas—like Issam Al-Saaffein, who was killed under torture in Hamas's jails.
This trend has continued during the present war. Since October 7, hundreds of Gazans have been killed by Hamas' failing rockets. Hamas has confiscated the food, fuel, and medicine sent to Gaza, and they did not stop here.
13-year-old Ahmad Breka was shot in the head by Hamas in Rafah while attempting to collect humanitarian aid. Others were fortunate because they were merely shot in the legs by Hamas while attempting to grab humanitarian goods that Hamas stole and kept in their facilities.
These inhumane acts, along with the agony that Gazans have undergone since October, prompted many to demonstrate anew during this war. They demonstrated in Khan-Younis in front of Yahya Sinwar's house; others protested in the north, asking that Hamas free the captives and cease the war. They received the same response from Hamas that I did: They were fired upon.
And once again, the global media largely overlooked these crimes.
Daring to take some food in the midst of a war or protesting Hamas isn't the only activity Hamas has persecuted us Gazans for; attempting to play any part of delivering this aid to those in need, or even considering playing any role the day after the war, is enough to get anybody the death penalty from Hamas.
That's what happened to the Abu-Amro tribe leader, along with two members of his tribe who were killed by Hamas militants a few days ago.
A couple of months ago, they beheaded the head of a clan leader in the north of Gaza and issued a statement on social media: 'We murdered him, and we will do so to anyone who stands against us and cooperates with Israel.'
Others who publicly criticized Hamas during the war were reported missing.
In addition to this, many of Fatah members were placed under house arrest by Hamas 'for security reasons,' and anyone who left his home was kidnapped. That's what happened with the Gazan Yossef Shahein—yet the global and Arab media never spoke about these crimes.
Al Jazeera, which employs hundreds of journalists in Gaza and has several offices there, never reports on these murders.
This systematic terrorism perpetrated by Hamas against the major tribes in Gaza and against dissidents is intended to undermine the plan for Gaza when the war ends, which will necessarily involve empowering civil society to run civil affairs in Gaza in the future. Hamas plans to copy the Taliban model in Gaza after the war, going underground and trying to fight from the shadows. They hope that will keep them in power so they can continue terrorizing both Israelis and Palestinians.
Where is the outrage?
This biased journalism has horrific repercussions. It was the reason for Hamas' success in silencing opposition in Gaza, and it is inflaming global mobs who swallow Hamas' propaganda and go to the streets raising the Hamas flag, wearing masks and chanting for terrorists, deceptively depicting all Gazans as Hamas members who wish to continue living under its authoritarian rule.
It's a horrific abandonment of Gaza's innocent civilians. It's clear their suffering only matters when it can be blamed on Jews."
