Hamas gets Ripped by Human Rights Watch... Activists Somehow Remain Silent

Human Rights Watch (HRW) while being critical of Israel has also strongly criticized the Hamas Government for it's many violations of human rights. Their latest condemnation came earlier today when there was this:

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh promised an investigation after masked Hamas gunmen killed the suspects and dragged their bodies through the streets four months ago.

"Hamas's inability or unwillingness to investigate the brazen murders of seven men makes a mockery of its claims that it's upholding the rule of law in Gaza," said Sarah Leah Whitson of HRW

Of course Hamas took issue with this in their own fashion:

Hamas government spokesman Ihab Ghussein said a committee had investigated the incident and submitted recommendations to the government, which he said were implemented. He would not say what those recommendations were. He said Human Rights Watch had not acted professionally in condemning Hamas without seeking further clarifications.

Gaza's interior ministry spokesman Islam Shahwan said Hamas security forces would conduct large-scale arrests of suspected collaborators as soon as the weekslong amnesty period ended on Thursday evening. 

According to YNET, Hamas has arrested and executed Six people for the "crime" of collaboration, but thirty two other individuals have been executed by Hamas Gunmen without a trial.

Picture from Times of Israel - Hamas Thugs drag a body through the streets after killing of "Collaborators"

 According to the Times of Israel:

According to a report on Hamas’s al-Aqsa radio in November, the alleged collaborators with Israel “were caught red-handed” in possession of “hi-tech equipment and filming equipment to take footage of positions.” The men were summarily executed before a mob, and one man’s body was dragged through the streets from the back of a motorcycle.

The HRW report noted that Hamas leaders, including Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and deputy politburo chief Musa Abu Marzouq condemned the killings and said “an independent committee to investigate the killings” was established in the wake of the November war. Despite those statements, no one has been brought to trial for the seven killings....

...Last week, Hamas internal security official Mohammad Lafi accused Western spy organizations of operating in the Palestinian enclave, and claimed he had a list of names of collaborators. Among the countries mentioned by Lafi as operating agents in the Gaza Strip were the US, UK, France, Germany and unspecified Arab states.

The Hamas Interior Ministry warned last month that collaborators have until April 11 to turn themselves in, after which they “will be pursued without mercy.”

Interestingly enough, nary a word on this is heard from Palestinian advocates. Even though Hamas won the last election in the Palestinian territories and that they still poll second to Fatah. One latest poll of Palestinian Public Opinion show the following:

If new presidential elections are held today and only two were nominated, Abbas would receive the vote of 52% and Haniyeh 41% of the vote of those participating. The rate of participation in such elections would reach 62%. Three months ago, Abbas received the support of 45% and Haniyeh 48%. In this poll, in the Gaza Strip, Abbas receives 53% and Haniyeh 44% and in the West Bank Abbas receives 52% and Haniyeh 39%.

If new legislative elections are held today with the participation of all factions, 71% say they would participate in such elections. Of those who would participate, 29% say they would vote for Hamas and 41% say they would vote for Fatah, 11% would vote for all other third parties combined, and 20% are undecided. Vote for Hamas in the Gaza Strip stands in this poll at 33% and in the West Bank at 27%. Vote for Fatah in the Gaza Strip stands in this poll at 42% and in the West Bank at 40%. These results indicate an increase in Fatah’s popularity compared to our December results when it stood at 36% (38% in the Gaza Strip and 34% in the West Bank). By contrast, Hamas’ popularity dropped six percentage points in the combined West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

So, good news on that front, Hamas is dropping in popularity. Still, at 41%  and close to 30% this is a far shot more than say a party like HaBayit HaYehudi got in Israel (which was something like 9.5% of the vote.

This silence on the part of  activists is telling particularly in light of these findings:

When asked about the long term goal of the PLO and the PA, 64% said that it is to  recover all or some of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, 15% said it is to defeat Israel and recover the 1948 territories, and 11% said it is to defeat Israel and destroy its Jewish population. 

 and that:

55% support the Saudi (Arab) Peace Initiative but only 42% support and 56% oppose mutual recognition of Israel as the state for the Jewish people and Palestine as the state for the Palestinian people.

A full 26% of Palestinians believe that the PLO and P.A. believe that these groups want to destroy Israel (I guess if they asked about the goal of Hamas that answer would be close to 100%).  While that is only a minority, it is still a significant number.

At the same time the poll shows (and backs up my assertion that the Palestinians do not necessarily really want an honest Two State Solution due to the fact that a majority of the Palestinian populace supports the Arab Peace Initiative (which posits a Two State Solution) but also demands that Israel give into the Palestinian "Right of Return" which would in effect render the Jewish character of Israel impossible.

Anyway, this silence is what gives lie to the supposed "human rights" aspect of the Pro-Palestinian movement. Nowhere do they seem to care about Human Rights violations or the make up of the Palestinian polity to come. To them the only thing that matters is/are Israeli actions or politics. Some settler raving about end times becomes representative to them of the entire Israeli polity, yet polls that show that the majority of the Palestinian population supports the end of the State of Israel (and the legitimate rights to self determination of the Jewish people) completely escapes them. I wonder why that is?

Well no... actually I don't.