The Gaza Strip is an "Islamist Emirate", ISIS merely the newcomer

...Over the past few days, two separate leaflets signed by Islamic State threatened to target Palestinian poets and writers for their "wantonness" and "atheism." The leaflets mention the poets and writers by name -- a move that created panic among many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The leaflets also included an ultimatum to Palestinian women to abide by Islamic attire or face the Islamic State style of punishment -- presumably being stoned to death. The threat leaves one with the false impression that, under Hamas, women can wear swimming suits at the beach and walk around the streets of Gaza City in mini-skirts. But this is what happens when one fundamentalist group believes that the other is not radical enough.

Members of Islamic State, in Gaza.
(Image source: Islamic State YouTube video)

Khaled Abu Toameh..
Gatestone Institute..
05 December '14..

It is always dreamlike to see one Islamist terror group accuse the other of being too "lenient" when it comes to enforcing sharia laws. But it is not dreamlike when a terrorist group starts threatening writers and women.

That is what is happening these days in the Gaza Strip, where supporters of the Islamic State are accusing Hamas of failing to impose strict Islamic laws on the Palestinian population -- as if Hamas has thus far endorsed a liberal and open-minded approach toward those who violate sharia laws.

Until this week, the only topic Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were talking about was how to rebuild homes and buildings that were destroyed during the last war between Hamas and Israel.

Now, however, almost everyone is talking about the Islamic State threats against poets, writers and women.

It is no secret that the Islamic State has a presence in the Gaza Strip. According to sources there, many disgruntled members of Hamas and other radical salafi-jihadi groups have already joined the Islamic State, with some fighting together with ISIS groups in Syria and Iraq.

Earlier this year, it was revealed here that Islamic State has already begun operating inside the Gaza Strip -- much to the dismay of Hamas.

Hamas, nevertheless, continues to deny any presence of Islamic State inside the Gaza Strip. "There are no members of Islamic State in the Gaza Strip," said Eyad al-Bazam, spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

Many Palestinians, however, do not seem to take Hamas's denials seriously, and remain unconvinced.

Over the past few days, two separate leaflets signed by Islamic State threatened to target Palestinian poets and writers for their "wantonness" and "atheism." The leaflets mention the poets and writers by name -- a move that created panic among many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The leaflets also included an ultimatum to Palestinian women to abide by Islamic attire or face the Islamic State style of punishment -- presumably being stoned to death. The threat leaves one with the false impression that, under Hamas, women can wear swimming suits at the beach and walk around the streets of Gaza City in mini-skirts.

But this is what happens when one fundamentalist group believes that the other is not radical enough.

The Distorted Gaza Debate: It’s About Hamas, Stupid

The bottom line must be whether or not the world wants to see another Islamist, genocidal state take hold. Let's discuss that, not overblown humanitarian concerns.


Barry Rubin
pajamasmedia.com
18 June '10

The biggest problem with the way the Gaza Strip and flotilla issues are being presented? This is an issue about Hamas, not an issue about Israel.

The bottom line is whether the West and the world wants to see, on the coast of the Mediterranean: a revolutionary Islamist state openly seeking to commit genocide against Israel’s Jews; a client of Iran; and a dictatorial government determined to spread Islamist revolution, treat women as the Afghan Taliban did, and educate a generation of Gazans into becoming terrorists.

Only if this factor is comprehended can the humanitarian issue be put into perspective. To make the determining factor the raising of Gazan living standards is to ignore the strategic issues involved. And the great irony here is that ultimately an acceptance of the Hamas regime will doom Gazans to far more suffering — not to mention death — than the embargo could ever cause.

Yet even if one takes the humanitarian issue in isolation from the strategic questions, on its own merits, it is a largely phony question. It is being promoted mainly by Hamas and its supporters not to help people in Gaza but to break the embargo, stabilize the regime, and ensure its support base. Of course, this would only continue until Hamas launched the next war, or massive terrorist and rocket-firing campaign, against Israel.

In this regard, the most fundamental points are being distorted. The Gaza Strip is an agricultural area, and there has never been any hunger there. Many photos have been published showing that the shops are full of basic commodities. True, this is being supplemented by smuggling across the border with Egypt, but the outcome is the same.

Additionally, the Gaza Strip has always been a poor area, even in comparison to the West Bank. Statistics are being distorted to act as if the relatively lower living standards in the Gaza Strip are being caused by the sanctions, rather than largely being a continuation of history. Naturally, with a Hamas dictatorship that provoked last year’s war, things are going to be worse than with a government that is moderate, seeking stability, and cooperative with the West.

Here’s an example: On June 1, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) stated that the Gaza Strip “has one of the world’s highest infant mortality rates.” The obvious implication? It is Israel’s fault, because of its sanctions. In fact, the Gaza Strip has an infant mortality rate of 17.71 deaths per 1000 births — about the same as Mexico and better than Brazil, Romania, neighboring Egypt (26.2), Turkey (24.8), and Iran (34.7).

None of those, of course, can be blamed on Israel.

(Read full article)

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