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Friday, March 13, 2015

Turns out some Gazans are rebuilding houses: friends of Hamas

Yesterday I quoted far-left NGO Gisha as saying that not a single destroyed house had been rebuilt in Gaza, despite over 50,000 tons of construction material (now known to be actually 88,000 tons.)

A Danish journalist visited Gaza last week and he did see that some homes were being rebuilt - but not for just anybody.

Gaza 2015 is anything but uplifting. There is sluggish renovation work. In the northern city of Beit Hanoun families started to quarrel, because Hamas has provided money to those who support the movement. Their houses destroyed by the war are soon completed. Other families who do not openly support Hamas have not received a penny, and their houses are just as flat and bombed as when Israeli missiles hit them for more than six months ago. The families feel both failure and anger, but most of them do not dare stand up and criticize Hamas publicly for fear of ending up on the movement's blacklist.

..."Anything is better than war and the time that has passed since. It has been the longest six months in Gaza's history, "said one of the residents of Beit Hanoun who is not a Hamas supporter. His house, a pile of rubble, remains the first sight that meets him every morning.
Since Hamas controls the money, they can largely control who gets the cement!

Perhaps this is something people should #AskHamas?

(h/t Dina Grossman)