Wash. Post exposes corruption, repression in Gaza under Hamas
By Leo Rennert, American Thinker..
The Washington Post, in its April 19 edition, features a front-page article on Hamas’s miserable rule of Gaza, pointing to failure to deliver basic services, repression of dissidents, corruption among the Hamas elite, which lead a cushy life while most Gazans struggle with power blackouts and shortages of other basic needs (“In besieged Gaza, residents say Hamas hasn’t delivered – For many, Islamist rulers turn out to be a lot like regular politicians” by Karin Brulliard).
It’s not a perfect piece – the sub-head refers to “Islamist rulers” (another euphemism for “terrorist”). The lead paragraph points to vast destruction of a neighborhood “in an Israeli military assault three years ago” without mentioning the constant rocket barrages against Israel that prompted the IDF operation. The second paragraph zeroes in on “Israeli airstrikes pounding the Gaza Strip last month” again without mentioning the rain of Gaza rockets on civilian targets in southern Israel.
But once Brulliard gets going, Hamas and all its warts become her main focus. She notes that Hamas came to power in a Palestinian election in 2006 “with a reputation for terrorist tactics against Israel” (finally, the “T” word to properly identify Palestinian terrorism).
She points out that Hamas’s charter dedicates the group to Israel’s “ruin.”
Unemployment is at 30 percent. Hamas hasn’t delivered on its pledge of justice and fairness. Graft is rampant under Hamas “corruption and patronage.” The Hamas elite has enriched itself. Gas station lines snake around corners. Dissent is “squashed.” Political opponents face arrests. People are fearful under a “police state” while the Hamas prime minister visits Iran.
Brulliard ends her report with a devastating comment from an unemployed former shopkeeper, Abu Khaled – “We used to take taxis, now we walk. We were eating, now we are not. Things changed – but for the worse. Hamas is controlling us. They are responsible for us.”
An impressive and comprehensive indictment of Hamas – a rarity in the Washington Post. Kudos to Brulliard, who’s new on the beat.
Now if Brulliard would only train her investigative talents on how Mahmoud Abbas reigns in the West Bank, Post readers might finally get a full picture of both sides of the Palestinian coin.
Link: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/04/wash_post_exposes_corruption_repression_in_gaza_under_hamas.html
Leo Rennert is a former White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief of McClatchy Newspaper
Thanks to Leo Rennert for his publicizing Karin Bruillard’s article. I hope she visits Judea and Samaria next, to tell Americans what wonderful people run the “Palesinian” controlled territories.
@ CuriousAmerican:
I am a bigot? Have you ever heard me speak ill of non Europeans or America? My attitude towrds them is directly related to how the Jews and or Israel is and has been treated historically.
You assigned the thought or dream of having the French occupy and build a second French Riviera. Gaza is as Jewish as is Jerusalem and for most of history Gaza has been inhabited by Jews even some quite famous Jews. In your dreams you don’t see Jews replacing Arab Muslims you see Christian French.
I think you can qualify for the term Bigot.You believe you will be raptured? Lake o fire is more likely and if it hasn’t registered on you yet we hold the matches to light it. 😉 I see nothing untoward for wishing ill towards our enemies.
Do you consider these: bigotry as well?
“Pour forth Your wrath upon the nations that do not recognize You and upon the kingdoms that do not invoke Your name. For they have devoured Jacob and destroyed his habitation. Pour forth Your fury upon them and let Your burning wrath overtake them. Pursue them with anger and destroy them from beneath the heavens of the L-rd.” (psalm 79)
“The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth vengeance, he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked” (Psalms 58)
“O daughter of Babylon that art to be destroyed; Happy shall he be that repayeth thee as thou hast done to us. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock” (Psalm 137)
The Torah recorded for posterity the song of Moses and Israel as the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea. Yes, collective punishment against the Egyptians, even the Egyptian maids and servants perished because they were happy with the oppression of the Jews. You see, Judaism is the exact polar opposite as Christianity. We don’t even believe in the same deity.
You truly are a bigot
@ CuriousAmerican:
Rather have the Arabs than the frogs and the beaches of Sinai are much nicer, much longer and few Arabs to displace or kill and we don’t need no stinking French to build hotels or grow grapes.
Some interesting facts about Israel Wines:
$200 Million dollar annual revenue
Per capita consumption is about 4 liters or 1 gallon (roughly)
Over 70% wine produced in Israel is red wine
U.S. is the primary importer(over 55%) followed by France and Holland
Israel’s wine industry gets international recognition from US critic
Israel’s wines have come of age after world leading wine critic Robert Parker declared 14 Israeli wines to be world class vintages in his first review of the country’s industry. The significant recognition is widely seen as an exciting new …
Can you imagine how Gaza would look if the French ruled it.
25 miles (40km) of probably the nicest beaches on the Mediterranean.
840 miles South (by latitude) of Nice France, it has a much warmer climate and an extended swimming season.
Can you imagine what a string of hotels could bring in? dry climate. Perfect wine growing country.
The Riviera is only a few miles long and half of France goes there.
Can you imagine if the Gaza Strip was in the hands of non-Muslims?