Internet Revelations

Jennifer Rubin
Contentions/Commentary
25 August '10

Muslim youth glued to the computer screen. 60 percent Internet penetration. The literacy rate (not computer, but what’s on the page) is over 90 percent. Where is this outpost of modernity and intellectual freedom? Gaza. Yes, the supposed ”hell hole” of the Middle East — the alleged virtual prison — is doing quite a bit better than its Arab neighbors. And the oppressors whom the people must outwit are not the Israelis but Hamas:

One of our first meetings in Gaza was with a Palestinian student group begun by an NGO called Mercy Corps to encourage youth to get involved in their community. These students began using the Internet to organize their activities and broadcast their charitable mission. They posted short films, for example, about their campaign to bring food to poor areas. The group grew from 10 to over a thousand in just a few months.

Although the group was not overtly political, Hamas nevertheless deemed it a threat and demanded that it stop meeting. But these students were already connecting through the Internet in ways that Hamas cannot track. During our meeting, the discussion centered on how they protect themselves online using “tunneling software” and other techniques that prevent Hamas from identifying and targeting them.

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