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Thursday, January 06, 2011

You need Arab media to find out the truth in Gaza

It is ironic that the Western media is not as critical of Hamas as some of the Arabic media are.

The latest example is an article in Dar Al Hayat (London), quoted in Palestine Press Agency and many other places in Arabic.

On Saturday, a Beit Lahiya resident named Ghassan Abu Nasr asked Hamas police why they were arresting his neighbor, Shadi Diab.

Because of that, the police took Abu Nasr and his neighbor, drove them to an empty area, beat them with a baton, then brought them to Hamas police station where they continued to beat them with rifle butts and batons.

Abu Nasr's knee and right hand were broken. Abu Diab fell into a coma and is now being hospitalized.

Al Hayat goes on to report that Gaza citizens are afraid of the endemic abuses of Gaza police. Even though Hamas claims that they are working to improve the situation, with training police on how to act and punishing those who abuse people, it is not working and Gazans still live in fear. There are many similar stories, including against journalists.

This article has been reproduced widely in the Arab media. Yet Western media remains silent.

Why are Arabs more critical of Hamas than the media of the free world?