Hamas Lawmaker Says Palestinians To Blame For Situation In Gaza
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - In an uncharacteristic display of self-criticism, a senior Hamas government official Sunday said the current abysmal living conditions in the Gaza Strip were caused by a "bacteria of stupidity" inflicting the Palestinians, and not by Israeli actions, as so many claim. In an editorial published in several Palestinian newspapers, Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, wrote: "When you walk in the streets of Gaza City, you cannot but close your eyes because of what you see there: unimaginable chaos, careless policemen, young men carrying guns and strutting with pride and families receiving condolences for their dead in the middle of the street." Hamad blamed the situation, the anarchy, as he called it, not on ongoing Israeli anti-terror operations and economic sanctions, but on the plethora of Palestinian militant groups that do as they please and rampant corruption at every level of the local authorities. "Gaza is suffering under the yoke of anarchy and the swords of thugs," lamented Hamad. He recalled that when Israel vacated Gaza last year, Palestinians of every political stripe were euphoric over prospects of "a promising future in the Gaza Strip and about turning the area into a trade and industrial zone." Hamad rejected the usual line that Israeli security closures on the Gaza border and US-led econom |
