When my father, who was born and raised in Gaza, was still alive, he often spoke out against Hamas, calling it the ugly face of the Palestinian struggle around the world.
Since Hamas’ attack on Israel, as I read message after message on social media referring to Hamas as freedom fighters involved in anti-colonial resistance, I have been struck by the devastating weight of this lie. It is an insult to Palestinians to refer to these terrorists as our freedom fighters.
At the hands of Hamas, the Jewish people have endured horrors not seen since the Holocaust. And, like the Nazis, Hamas does not view Jewish people as human beings. According to their 1988 pact, every Jew must be eradicated from this land. Its objective is not the genocide of the Jewish people in Israel; their goal is the genocide of all Jewish people on this planet, period.
My father hated that Hamas had dominated the conversation and positioned itself as the face of Gaza around the world. My father was born and raised in the Gaza Strip and lived there until he went to Egypt to attend university. Although he left Egypt for San Francisco and then moved to Montreal, he always carried Gaza in his heart.
He had a Facebook page and YouTube channel dedicated to sharing images and videos from Gaza before it was invaded by terrorists. There is nothing he hated more than Hamas. In words, he posted on social media: “May God curse the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, they have brought us nothing but backwardness in our Arab societies.”
He would not be surprised to see the massacres of families, babies, elderly people by Hamas, because he already knew its brutality. Like many people in Gaza, my father knew that if anyone spoke out against these tyrannical oppressors, they would be quickly tackled. And his family too, just in case. Hamas has never shied away from violence.
Throwing all Gazans into the same bucket as Hamas is a grave insult – an insult that people on both sides of the political spectrum are committing.
Many people on the left, for example, confuse Hamas with all Palestinians and then consider them all to be oppressed – the minority group, the victims, the besieged. Hamas is happy with this misguided and confusing perspective because it allows the group to hide under the umbrella of “oppression” to justify its violence. It is clear that they would rather be seen as freedom fighters than terrorists.
PHOTOS – See images of the war between Hamas and Israel
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
