It’s often assumed that wisdom comes with age, and one man in Gaza proved that theory during a recent interview on Al Jazeera.
The Qatar-based Arab network has long supported Hamas and that didn’t change following the October 7th attacks in Israel. In an attempt to generate more propaganda, Al Jazeera entered a hospital in Gaza to interview the wounded. No doubt expecting to get anti-Israeli soundbites, one man gave them something totally different.
Al-Jazeera interviews a wounded elderly man at a Gaza hospital about how he got hurt
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 15, 2023
His answer?
“Why is Hamas hiding among us civilians? Why don’t they go to hell & hide there instead?"
The reporters ends the interview.
Via @YaariCohen pic.twitter.com/zC6zqx7bXy
MAN: And as for the resistance, they come and hide among the people. Why are they hiding among the people? They can go to hell and hide there.
The moment the man disparages Hamas the “reporter” turns to walk away, abruptly ending the interview. Whether that’s because Al Jazeera is hopelessly a biased network or because there is legitimate fear in reporting anything negative about Hamas while on the ground in Gaza doesn’t really matter. The point is that the man is right.
The younger generations in Gaza have been brainwashed since they were toddlers, taught to have a blood lust for Jews. As a demographic, they broadly support Hamas and find purpose in the idea of the intifada. The older generations, though, tend to be more mixed, and this isn’t the first clip to come out of the war in which an elderly Gazan has said the quiet part out loud. These are people who were there before Hamas, and they’ve seen nothing but decline over that time. That gives them a perspective your average 20-year-old Gazan doesn’t have.
At the heart of suffering in the Gaza Strip is Hamas’ governance. Israel has not always done things perfectly in handling a very complex situation, and I think it’s perfectly acceptable to admit that. Despite that, it is Hamas who steals aid from those it oversees. It is Hamas that trains children to become terrorists and sends them to die with no regard for their lives. It is Hamas that breaks ceasefire after ceasefire, leading to death and destruction inside Gaza. It is Hamas that oppresses its own people and makes a two-state solution untenable.
Israel will never get credit for it, but if they destroy Hamas during this war, those who benefit the most will be the people of Gaza. I think there are a lot more people there who realize that than we know, though most will never say it out loud for obvious reasons.
