Gazans launch anti-Hamas campaign, reject blaming Israel

“Imagine your one-month-old son dies because of the cold. Imagine your son dying because there is no electricity, no money, no wages and no home.”

By World Israel News Staff

Hundreds of Palestinian activists have launched an online campaign criticizing Hamas for harsh humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.

The social media campaign, dubbed “They Hijacked Gaza,” began as a live three-hour long conversation organized by five Palestinian activists who left the Strip in 2019 after participating in the ‘We Want to Live’ protests’ which were violently suppressed by Hamas at the time.

The protests were ignited following the 14th March Movement, a youth group which in 2019 launched the “We want to Live” slogan online. The movement claimed to be anti-political, with an aim to achieve better rights, but response to the ensuing protests by Hamas was harsh as they raided homes. Videos showed security personal hitting activists and shooting into the air.

Activist Amer Balosha is 29-year-old law graduate now living in Istanbul. He had been arrested by Hamas for his role in the 14 March Movement.

“Hamas has billions of dollars in investments in many countries, while people [in Gaza] starve to death and migrate in search of work.”

Mahmoud Nashwan, a 32-year-old engineer now living in Belgium, said on Thursday: “Imagine your one-month-old son dies because of the cold. Imagine your son dying because there is no electricity, no money, no wages and no home.”

Hamas supporters have claimed that the Palestinian Authority and Israel are behind the “They Highjacked Gaza” campaign.

Counter campaigns were launched online, claiming that the PA is guilty of financial and administrative corruption, collaboration with Israel and imposing economic sanctions on Gaza.

However, anti-Hamas activists have rejected the attempt to shift blame onto Israel, according to The Jerusalem Post. Many are now blaming Hamas for “kidnapping Gaza.”

“Fifteen years ago, two million afflicted people were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip in the name of change and reform,” said Twitter user Bisan Issam.

“The lives and dreams of an entire generation were lost, crushed by despair and lack of resourcefulness. People are now throwing themselves at death in any way to escape the constant death in Gaza.”