Saudi journalist Rashed Al-Qahtani accuses Hamas of behaving in an un-Islamic manner and committing crimes against the Palestinian people.
By Rachel Avraham
In a recent report in MEMRI, Saudi journalist Rashed Al-Qahtani writing in the Saudi news portal Elaph “decried the brutal violence employed by Hamas against the people of Gaza since this movement’s takeover of the Gaza Strip. Hamas’ “hangmen,” he said, terrorize the Gazans, beat them and shoot them at close range for various transgressions without a trial, even for small offenses like stealing food – which is a crime against humanity that the mind refuses to grasp.”
According to MEMRI, “He adds that Hamas itself is to blame for the dire situation that forces Gazans to steal food, especially after it dragged Gaza into a war with Israel due to its subordination to Iran. Stating that Hamas’ actions are un-Islamic although it bills itself as an Islamic movement, he stresses that Gaza needs a civil administration that will protect the rights of its people, rebuild the Strip and return it to the Arab fold.”
Al Qahtani declared in his article: “Among the most important goals that societies aspire to achieve are security, stability, justice and equality. The security of society is a top priority of any regime. When the regime [itself] threatens the internal security and stability of society and exposes it to external danger – to the extent of fragmenting it and exposing it to internal discord and fighting – it incurs hostility, hatred and condemnation”.
“The people of Gaza have been complaining of oppression and violence on the part of Hamas since its inception and since its takeover of the Gaza Strip,” he noted. “The violence Hamas directs at the Palestinian people is despicable, horrifying and recurring. It is characterized by sadism, and constitutes an attempt to bring perdition, humiliation and dishonor upon every Palestinian and Arab, and to cause a rift among the Palestinians and wounds that cannot be healed…”
According to him, “Nobody is pleased with Hamas’ actions in Gaza, neither within the Palestinian homeland or outside it. The mind refuses to grasp the crimes, humiliations and degradations we are witnessing, which resemble the actions of the Shi’ite militias against the Sunnis in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon… But after some videos leaked of people being punished in the streets, [videos] that have come to represent the [behavior of] Hamas’ hangmen, the scope of these brutal crimes became clear. Some of the punishments meted out by Hamas gunmen involve [people] being dragged [along the street], brutal beatings by several people, or restraining Palestinians and shooting them with machineguns at close range, especially in the feet and knees, on various charges. Such weapons should be reserved for real combat and must not be used against civilians, even in times of war! How can they be used as a means of punishment and torture against unarmed civilians?”
The respectable Saudi journalist proclaims that the average Gazan fears Hamas more than the Israeli bombardments at this point: “Gaza’s civilians are at the mercy of the clubs and bullets of Hamas’ hangmen. Such upsetting sights arouse disgust and feelings of hatred, anger and outrage over the injustice [of the deeds], and deepen the bleeding wounds in the hearts of the people who love the Palestinians and support them. How can we not [feel this way] when we see a Palestinian attacking his fellow Palestinian, torturing him brutally and committing the most heinous deeds on the pretext of punishing him for some offense or crime without the benefit of a trial and using unacceptable methods and means?”
Al Qahtani added: “Convicting people and punishing them should be done by means of a fair trial and proceedings by the prosecutor general, in the presence of a lawyer and based on a system of legislation, judiciary procedures and legal [mechanisms]. Moreover, the punishment must fit the crime and be aimed at demanding commensurate compensation, deterring [criminals] and restoring the rights [of the victims]. But the violence employed by Hamas, without any religious restraint, moral laws or formal procedures, is a crime against humanity even before it is a crime against the helpless Palestinian people.”
Al Qahtani blamed Hamas for the fact that many Gazans commit crimes, such as stealing food: “Hamas humiliated the Palestinian people to the ground and exposed them to every kind of torture and destruction, to the point where the people of Gaza found themselves abandoned, [living] out in the open without shelter, food or water, all because of Hamas’ stupidity, its subordination to Iran and its insistence on leading them into a tunnel.”
Al Qahtani accuses Hamas of behaving un-Islamically: “Hamas claims to be an Islamic movement, yet it does not implement the Islamic sharia in these matters… It has strayed very far from the laws of Islam even in matters of lenience and forgiveness, when it should have followed the example of [the second] caliph, Omar Al-Khattab, who stopped implementing the Quranic punishment for theft [i.e., amputation of the hand] in 18 AH. [He did this] because of the hunger and poverty the people were experiencing, not because he wanted to revoke Allah’s laws.”
Al Qahtani concluded: “This conduct of Hamas’ is another in the list of its crimes. Among the worst of these crimes was destroying the Gaza Strip by [letting Hamas’ fighters] hide among the people, thus exposing them to danger… Hamas caused the [Gazans’] homes to be destroyed and brought death, expulsion, trouble and disasters upon them on the pretext of waging war against Israel and liberating Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian lands. We all support restoring the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. But sadly, some of their rights have been lost… because of the Palestinian factions [themselves]. Therefore, the people of Gaza must now have a civil administration that will safeguard their rights and address their problems in a civil and organized manner. [This administration] must have broad powers so it can perform the needed tasks, and so that Gaza can be rebuilt and return to the Arab fold.”
