In an article in the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhouriyya, columnist 'Abdallah Al-Naggar attacked Hamas's "Islamic emirate" in Gaza and its leaders, saying that the Strip has become a big prison isolated from the world, where the residents suffer grinding poverty while the leaders live in luxury, and where fighters fire "primitive" rockets that serve only to prompt a deadly response from the enemy.
Following are excerpts:[1]
"The Islamic Emirate of Gaza and its Caliph, Sultan Isma'il bin Haniya, has become a diminutive model of our Muslim nation, accurately reflecting our [general] reality. It is an emirate isolated [from the world] on all sides. There is no road or entrance leading into it, and if you want to go in, you have to ask permission from its neighbors... It is divided [into isolated regions] and isolated from the world.
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"The relations between the residents of this emirate and their homeland is like the relations between two rival brothers. Those living outside the emirate hate the emirate and those [living] inside, while those inside, who live in a large prison, curse their brothers and accuse them of collaboration and treason. [Inside], there is degrading poverty and pressing need. The plea [for help] is unending. People have no food or electricity, and the sick have no access to treatment or medicine. Women are unprotected and children do not receive their most basic needs.
"The leaders of this emirate are unrecognized outside its besieged walls, and need permission from their enemies to leave it... If [the enemy] refuses, they remain hidden within the [emirate's] boundaries, screaming, wailing and calling for help, but nobody comes to the rescue. When the residents of the emirate appear on [our television] screens, they are always crying and beseeching Allah to take quick revenge on all the Arabs [for abandoning them].
"This emirate, isolated from the world, has neither ambassadors nor consulates, neither schools nor universities, and the international community hasn't the slightest incentive to cooperate with it. Its only contact with the world [takes the form of] pleas for help that never comes and for aid that its enemies do not permit it to receive.
"[From time to time, its people] fire some primitive rockets from the territory of their emirate, with no way of knowing when and where they will fall. These [rockets] do not hit their target nor bring about victory. The enemy's response, [on the other hand,] is decisive and crushing, completely blind to the [anguish] of the defenseless, weak and wretched [residents]. It takes no pity on children, women, or the elderly, and sows death and destruction, encountering no resistance that can match it [in force]...
"After the disaster [of the 2009 Gaza war], the emirate celebrated its victory, and the Caliph [Isma'il Haniya] graced the survivors with a bombastic speech full of fiery phrases. [But] the tragedy repeated itself, and [eventually] he was forced to sign a secret agreement with the enemy, [promising] to stop the [firing of] rockets in return for a halt to the [enemy's] blows. [Yet] you will always find someone who will praise the [emirate's] courage and steadfastness [and refer to] the deeds of this glorious emirate as a kind of jihad [that will be remembered] for all eternity. [Meanwhile,] the Caliph lives in luxury, and drives a fast black car preceded by dozens of motorcycles, after the manner of generals and dignitaries around the world.
"This is a tragedy by any standards, for Palestine has lost its way. The Arabs and Muslims are humiliated and have nothing left but empty [gestures] that make them feel self-important but are actually meaningless. When will we wake up from this drunken stupor, open our eyes to the [interests] of the residents, and start employing [measures] that are [truly] serious and beneficial? When will we recognize our own worth, and launch a serious struggle, so as to find an effective cure for the disease?..."
[1] Al-Gumhouriyya (Egypt), October 22, 2010.
