Imagine if anyone else tried this: Hamas barred Muslim Palestinians in Gaza from traveling to Mecca
Dec. 2, 2008
Can you imagine the public outcry had Israel barred the Palestinians from the Muslim hajj? Not much coverage though when Hamas police in Gaza prevented the pilgrims from crossing into Egypt to travel to Mecca. Hamas police reportedly set up 16 checkpoints on roads leading to the passage.
"They called us traitor pilgrims," a man who identified himself as a pilgrim told a Gaza television station.
Some pilgrims managed to dodge checkpoints by taking back roads to the Rafah crossing with Egypt. There, Hamas police beat up those who refused to leave, according to pilgrims speaking on a call-in show on the pro-Fatah Palestine Television.
"They were beating us with sticks and their rifle butts," said one man who identified himself as a pilgrim. "There was tear gas. It looked like an action movie."
Of course, witnesses would not give their names, for fear of retribution by Hamas police.
In another example of the human rights and civil liberties enjoyed in Gaza, Hamas expelled Israeli-Arab reporter Amira Hass from Gaza "for security reasons." Hass, of Ha'aretz, is known for sympathetic coverage of the Palestinians. She arrived in Gaza on Nov. 8 on a boat of pro-Palestinian activists and had hoped to stay in Gaza until January.
A Hamas spokesman was unavailable for comment.
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