Um, you do. Well, they do denounce them - maybe it's not reported where you are.
For one thing, Hamas and Fatah were fighting each other. It's not like everyone in Palestine supports Hamas.
You'll find a huge amount of ambivalence towards Hamas among supporters of Palestine. I mean, they're an Islamic fundamentalist group.
But on the other hand, as Pander Bear alludes, they were keeping the Gaza strip functioning. They were providing social services and food and stuff. That's going to be worth a lot, in anyone's language. If they can promote the situation as 'the Isreali boycott means you don't get food or medicine, but thanks to us, you do', that's a powerful narrative (no matter how true it is).
So you feel it is okay for a poor family in New York in the 1920s to support an Organized crime syndicate because they put money in the Church offering on Sunday? Even though they kill people by the score?
Gaza conflict: Who is a civilian?. By Heather Sharp. January 5 2009. BBC News. said:
The BBC reported on January 5 that "Witnesses and analysts confirm that Hamas fires rockets from within populated civilian areas, and all sides agree that the movement flagrantly violates international law by targeting civilians with its rockets."
[QUOTE="Warnings Not Enough for Gaza Families" (January 5, 2009).]The New York Times quotes a study about to be published by the Israel-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, an independent research group that has close ties to the Israeli military establishment, saying that Hamas has methodically built its military infrastructure in the heart of population centers. According to the study, Hamas not only hides among the population, but has made a main component of its combat strategy “channeling” the army into the most densely populated areas to fight.[/QUOTE]
Hamas Fighters Display Mix of Swagger and Fear. The New York Times. Published January 13 said:
In a January 13 story, a Hamas militant who was willing to be anonymously interviewed by The New York Times reporters stated that “I’m a civilian, and I’m a fighter". He claimed that the small and enclosed nature of the Gaza strip meant that he had nowhere to stay except in civilian areas, saying that “Where do we go... There are no other places.” He also claimed that most Palestinian residents accept and shelter Hamas militants who hide amongst them
23rd Day of Continuous IOF Attacks on the Gaza Strip. 18 January 2009. Palestinian Center for Human Rights. said:
The New York Times stated on January 10 that "Unwilling to take Israel’s bait and come into the open, Hamas militants are fighting in civilian clothes; even the police have been ordered to take off their uniforms."
A Gaza War Full of Traps and Trickery. By Steven Erlanger. The New York Times. Published January 10 said:
"Unwilling to take Israel’s bait and come into the open, Hamas militants are fighting in civilian clothes; even the police have been ordered to take off their uniforms."
[QUOTE="Israel says map shows Hamas puts Gaza civilians at risk". CNN (January 9, 2009). Archived from the original on January 13, 2009.]Israel claims to have found a map, which, it argues, shows "'the deployment of explosives and Hamas forces' in the Al-Attara neighborhood in northern Gaza." This map allegedly shows that Hamas has placed many explosives and firing positions in residential areas, several mosques, and even next to a gas station. Israel concedes these are designed to kill Israeli soldiers, but says that they put the local population in extreme danger[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE="Hamas Exploitation of Civilians as Human Shields". Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (January 2009).]The house of Muhammed Barud, a senior member of the Popular Resistance Committees, was attacked on December 30. Secondary explosions indicated the home's dual-purpose as a weapons storehouse. Nizar Rayyan and his family were killed during the attack. Israel alleges that their presence was designed to ward off Israeli attack. It pointed Arab media reports that civilians had, back in 2006, taken shifts serving as "human shields" of the Barud residence...
..."the Hamas police force operations room in the northern Gaza Strip was moved to the Kamal Adwan hospital, and operatives of Hamas’s naval police were situated in a school in Khan Yunis."...
...Israel argues that Hamas blurs the line between civilians and combatants, and is therefore responsible for civilian deaths in Gaza. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs alleges that Hamas' alleged use of "human shields" and "operational use of heavily built-up and densely populated civilian areas" violates Article 8(2)(b)(xxiii) of the Rome Statute. This statute defines as a war crime the act of "Utilizing the presence of a civilian […] to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations." It also defines Palestinian attacks as terrorist in nature, because they kill civilians in order to "sow terror" within the broader civilian population. This would constitute violation of the Laws of Armed Conflict, as outlined in Article 51(2) of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949[/QUOTE]
I did a search on google for Palestinians against Hamas, instead of finding sites dedicated to intelligent Palestinians tired of the bloodshed, I found nothing. In the second quote above a militant in an interview claims that Palestinians routinely house and feed militants.... but what about all the reports I found that charge Hamas with dressing soldiers as civilians, keeping arms in houses and churches, crowding civilians onto the roofs of buildings where weapons are stored,so that Israel will not bomb them.
How can anyone actually think these people care about them, when they are storing munitions in the same rooms their children are learning the alphabet?
Infinite Jest, It seems as if in AMerica, there would be tons of reports of palestinians against these groups shelling Israel, if it was indeed commonplace. I just do not think it is, because it is just not seen. What I do see, and this is everywhere, are people burning Israeli flags, cursing Israel, blaming them, and cheering for Hamas. I would love to think this is untrue, but I cannot find anything reputable, that indicates that most Palestinians are against Hamas, and want to befriend Israel.
