Gisha NGO manages to avoid condemning Hamas again

I mentioned last month that the Gisha NGO, the "legal center for freedom of movement" which is well-funded by many European governments and organizations, goes out of its way to avoid condemning Hamas for its restrictions on freedom of movement into and out of Gaza.

The last time it condemned Hamas for blocking Gazan;s movement, as far as I can tell, was in 2011. The many examples since then have gone unremarked by this "freedom of movement" organization.

Here is how Gisha reported on the closing of the Erez crossing last week:

Erez Crossing closed last Thursday, January 8, following a disagreement between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) and is operating only for exceptional cases: Medical patients, Israeli citizens, and UNDP and UNRWA staff. According to Palestinian sources, the crossing was closed after Hamas placed a container on the Palestinian side of the crossing designed to be used as an office for its employees. The container is said to obstruct passage, and both Israel and the PA objected to its installation. PA employees on the Palestinian side of Erez refuse to work until the container is removed. Gisha calls on all parties to immediately resolve the matter, which is impacting on the civilian population and its ability to travel.

Hamas effectively installed an additional gateway for travelers to go through before entering and leaving Gaza. Yet it took three days for Gisha to even mention this on its site, and when it did it studiously avoided blaming Hamas for its unilateral move that caused the crossing to be closed. The entire press release was clearly only published reluctantly. Erez remained mostly closed for an entire week until it was re-opened today, and this is Gisha's only mention of it.

On the other hand, within one day of Israel closing the crossings last November due to rocket fire, Gisha immediately and expansively condemned Israel, calling it "collective punishment."

It is interesting that this EU-funded organization shows so little regard to Gazans when Hamas is the party guilty of restricting their freedom of movement.