A year later: Hamas still defiant, but Gazans continue to struggle
The Islamist militant group has controlled the coastal strip for a year now and says it will not relent to international pressure.
from the June 16, 2008 edition
Page 3 of 4
When Hamas took over a year ago, their fighters shot Fatah loyalists in the knees and beat them when already in custody, and in a few shocking cases, pushed them off rooftops to their deaths.
"There is a heavy atmosphere of fear," Mr. Saraj, the human rights commissioner, says. "Hamas has its admirers, but some people fear them and speak up, and some people fear them and remain silent. I think the majority here are silent."
That claim is repeated by Ashraf Jomar, a legislator from Fatah who represents Rafah. "Hamas took over by power and by guns," Mr. Jomar says, pointing to a bullet hole in the wall of his fifth-floor office. "This gave people fear and caused the people to shut up and not react."
Jomar says many Fatah activists still fear for their security, including him, and that the police and courts do not treat them fairly. He also says that being secure is defined not only in physical terms.
"Did they succeed in introducing any improvement to the Gaza people? The answer is 'no,' " he says.
Hamas Minister of Justice Ahmad Shwedeh admits that there were "problems" with the behavior of Hamas fighters following the takeover, but he says that the government is now implementing the law without political bias.
Many of the lawyers and judges that now populate the courts here were drafted by Hamas following the resignations of previous legal workers a year ago who followed directives from the Fatah government in Ramallah to resign. The judges and lawyers are from various political parties, Mr. Shwedeh says.
Though secular Gazans feared that the Islamist Hamas would seek to impose sharia (Islamic law), the legal system here still relies on the same laws as it did before, with only family law settled by Islamic courts. However, there are reports of judges bending the law so that rulings comply with sharia.
As for freedom of expression, the justice minister says those who wish to demonstrate need only apply for permission from the police, as the law states. But, he adds: "In Arab countries, they are not giving such [wide] space for demonstrations in the streets against the government." Hamas has also taken to filtering the Internet.
Hamas has difficult decisions to make regarding the conflict with Israel and its place in the Arab world.
RSS feed
