Don't Conflate Hamas and ‘Prison’ of Gaza, Commentators Advise
Gazans "want some alternative,” Zakaria says
While the multi-fronted attack on Israel launched over the weekend has been stunning and lethal, it's important not to conflate the organization responsible, Hamas, with the place or population of Gaza, according to prominent commentators on US television.
Hamas militants launched a surprise strike against Israel Saturday, which has killed more than 1,200 dead between the initial attacks and Israeli counterattacks. And that figure only is expected to rise as Israel has begun what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared as “war” against Hamas.
The militant group and the Palestinian population of Gaza are not synonymous, however, according to a pair of well-regarded TV commentators, who emphasized the brutal conditions in which Gazans live.
While acknowledging this weekend's assault as a “vicious act of terror,” author and MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan there's more to Gaza.
“And you have to understand, when we talk about Gaza in the West, for a lot of people it’s very easy to conflate Hamas, which is a militant group that carries out acts of vicious terror, as they did this weekend, with Gaza, which is a place that contains 2.2 million people, half of them children. Half of the 2.2 million people are children,” he said. “And it’s one of the most densely populated places on planet Earth. You’ve got 2.2 million people crowded into 141 square miles, so they automatically become the victims of Israeli airstrikes because it’s so crowded, because it’s so densely populated.
“And it’s basically like living in an open-air prison. And those aren't my words, those are the words of the former head of Israeli intelligence just a few months ago, Tamir Pardo, he said, ‘We’re treating Gaza like an open-air prison,’” Hasan added. “So that is the context that is so important for us to remember when we talk about Gaza as some kind of strange faraway place, people shouting with guns. It’s actually a real place with real people, families, and they're living in horrific conditions.
“You know, 59 percent of Gazans live in poverty, 63 percent food insecure, 70 percent of young people unemployed. Ninety percent of Gazans have no access to clean drinking water,” Hasan said. “The U.N. secretary general called it ‘hell on earth.’ How much more hellish is it going to get in the coming days?”
Author and CNN host Fareed Zakaria further described the conditions within Gaza in a separate on-camera appearance.
“There was plenty of evidence that people in Gaza were very dissatisfied with their lot. But let’s remember that their lot is in part because they are in this almost prison. Israel maintains border controls [that] are essentially a stranglehold. It’s very hard to leave,” Zakaria said. “It’s very hard to import anything, even medical equipment that could be seen as dual use.
“On top of that, you have this radical terrorist organization, Hamas, that rules. So, you put that all together, and life is pretty hellish for people in Gaza. It’s not surprising they want some alternative,” he added. “But the alternative would have to be home-grown.
“Bret Stephens of The New York Times, who I respect a lot, said, ‘Clear out Hamas and then ask the Saudis and the Egyptians to come in and do peacekeeping.’ I don’t think that would work, and I think the Saudis and Egyptians would find that they have an insurgency on their hands,” Zakaria said.
Please support our work…
Please subscribe…