Hamas Got Rich As Gaza Was Impoverished
An article appearing in Ynet on July 15 by Doron Peskin reveals how leaders of Hamas have become fabulously wealthy at the same time that the Gaza Strip has fallen deeper into poverty and disrepair.
Israel vacated the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Palestinians elected a Hamas government, which in 2007 completed the take-over of the Gaza Strip by violently ejecting the remaining Fatah officials. At the time, many explained popular support for Hamas as unrelated to its hardline stance against Israel. Instead, the conventional wisdom attributed Hamas’s electoral victory to its reputation as untainted by corruption in contrast to the corrupt practices of the ruling Fatah party.
The article reveals the rapid accumulation of wealth by the top-echelon of Hamas since taking power. The wealth was acquired both in the old fashioned manner of robber barons, by taxing goods coming into Gaza through the smuggling tunnels, and in the relatively new way by investing in enterprises utilizing funds they secretly control. The article does not explore how much of this wealth indirectly derives from Western aid. The Palestinian economy is heavily subsidized by Western nations and money is fungible.
The accumulation of wealth by those in power at the expense of the general population is an oft-repeated story, but in the case of Hamas and the Gaza Strip there is the additional factor of the constant imploring of the Western world to provide aid to the Gazan population. Such revelations should undermine the credibility of those who blame the Gaza Strip’s impoverishment on Israel and contend that if only harsh Israeli restrictions were removed, Gaza would flourish.
The article provides a glimpse of a more cynical reality. While the Hamas government encourages the Palestinian population to dedicate itself to the cause of “resistance,” accept self-sacrifice, even to the point of welcoming “martyrdom,” Hamas leaders busily conduct real estate deals and shuffle vast sums from one bank account to another for the purpose of enriching themselves and their families.
More from SNAPSHOTS
CNN’s Amanpour Condemns “power grab” By Israel’s Prime Minister and Others
April 1, 2020
We’ve said it often, but it’s worth repeating: Anyone interested in reasonably unbiased information about Israel (at least) should avoid the broadcasts of CNN’s Chief International Correspondent and Anchor, Christiane Amanpour. In characterizing responses to [...]
Seattle Media Oblivious To Imam’s Hateful Indoctrination Condemning Jews
January 7, 2020
The Masjid Ar-Rahmah mosque teaching – that Allah transformed Jews into apes and pigs for disobeying him – delivered by Imam (prayer leader) Mohamad Joban – was posted online by mosque personnel. This December 2019 [...]
AP Distorts: Bethlehem ‘Almost Completely Surrounded’
December 10, 2019
Over two years after improving inaccurate language falsely citing Israel's security "barrier surrounding the biblical city" of Bethlehem, the Associated Press once again misrepresents. AP's Joseph Krauss and Mohammad Daraghmeh wrote yesterday ("Palestinians in Bethlehem [...]
Reuters Errs on Administrative Detention For ‘Anti-Israel Activity’
November 5, 2019
The Ofer Prison, near Ramallah (Photo by Tamar Sternthal) A Reuters article today egregiously misrepresents administrative detention, erroneously asserting that it is mainly applied to "Palestinians suspected of anti-Israeli activities," when in fact the Israeli [...]