Free Palestine from oppression, from poverty, from prison and from Hamas By Jason Shvili

Palestinians in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, take part in an anti-Hamas protest calling to end the war with Israel, March 26, 2025. Photo by Flash90.

JNS : Pro-Palestinian protesters in America and around the world ignore the war-mongering jihadists who forced these Palestinians into the gates of hell. Hundreds of Palestinians rallied last week in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, chanting, among other things: “Out, out, Hamas out!”

This is the first time masses of Gazans have openly called for the terrorist group to be removed from power. Protests against Hamas rule have since spread throughout the Gaza Strip. Good news, right?

But wait: Why have no pro-Palestinian protesters in the West stepped up to support these brave demonstrators? Why have no mass protests been held echoing Gazans’ demands that Hamas relinquish power?

No surprise, of course: Pro-Palestinian protesters in America and around the world ignore the war-mongering jihadists who forced these Palestinians into the gates of hell … preferring instead to blame Israel, whose primary crime is defending its citizens from bloodthirsty terrorists. If the protesters truly cared about the Palestinian people, then they would focus on the disaster zone of the Gaza Strip, where 2 million Palestinians are held prisoner by Hamas.

It wasn’t Western protesters who demanded that Palestinians be given the right to emigrate from Gaza and take refuge in neighboring Arab lands; it was U.S. President Donald Trump. But this humanitarian idea has drawn virtually no support from progressive voices, NGOs, the United Nations or other world leaders.

Likewise, most proposals for ending Israel’s war with Hamas envision the Hamas monsters remaining in place, if not in power. This notion contradicts both U.S. and Israeli plans for the territory, which call for Hamas’s elimination. It also contradicts even the remotest sense of sympathy or desire to ease the Palestinians’ plight.

Gaza is a prison: Hamas are the wardens. In 2005, Israel withdrew completely from Gaza, allowing the Palestinians there to govern themselves. Two years later, Hamas seized power in the territory from the Palestinian Authority. Since then, the terrorist group has run Gaza as an iron-fisted authoritarian state.

Here are facts that no “pro-Palestinian” protesters—or the progressive media—will tell you: In Hamas-ruled Gaza, there is no free speech, no free press, no elections. No rights of any kind for women or LGBTQ+ people. Arbitrary arrests and torture are commonplace. Those now demonstrating against Hamas rule are taking a mortal risk, since the terrorist group ruthlessly suppresses dissent. Hamas also has complete control of the economy, heavily taxing impoverished Gazans. No wonder Hamas leaders are some of the world’s richest terrorists.

Hamas, not Israel, is responsible for Palestinian suffering. It is Hamas that wields absolute control over Gaza. Yet protesters on U.S. college campuses and public squares worldwide irrationally blame Israel for the Gazans’ misery. Similarly, mainstream media push a narrative in which Israel, not Hamas, is the cause of the Palestinians’ suffering.

Another hard fact: Israel has not occupied Gaza for 20 years, nor does it have any political power over Palestinians there. Free Palestine from what?

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