Do You Know What You Stand For or Are You Just That Stupid or Ignorant?
The Paradox of Hamas Support: LGBTQ+ and Women's Rights in Gaza
In recent years, and especially after Israel's response to the October 7, 2023, massacre and war crimes against humanity by Palestinian terrorists of the Hamas group, a contradictory phenomenon has been observed:
LGBTQ+ and feminist groups in the United States and elsewhere have expressed support for Hamas, despite the group's restrictive policies towards LGBTQ+ and women's rights in Gaza.
This article explores this situation and raises questions about the knowledge that these LGBTQ+ rights groups and feminists have about the laws and practices in the Hamas-controlled territories: do they know what they stand for, or are they just that stupid, ignorant or worse, complicit?
The Situation of LGBTQ+ People in Gaza
In Gaza, Hamas' laws against homosexuality are severe:
- Same-sex relations can be punished with up to 10 years in prison.
- There have been reported cases of extrajudicial punishments including beatings, torture, and even beheadings.
Concrete Examples:
- According to Human Rights Watch, in 2016, Mahmoud Ishtiwi, a 34-year-old Hamas commander, was brutally tortured and eventually killed by the organization for allegedly having sex with another man.
"As the act of prostitution is considered an abomination and an evil in every sense, the punishment for a man is at least equal to the law of prostitution, namely strangulation to death, especially if it was committed by someone occupying a sensitive position under the leadership of the Al-Aksam battalions," the sentence says.
- In 2022, the murder of Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, a gay Palestinian who had sought asylum in Israel, caused shockwaves and sparked debates about the safety and rights of LGBTQ+ people in the Palestinian territories.
Status of Women Under Hamas Rule
Although Hamas has modified some traditional interpretations of Sharia law, women in Gaza face numerous restrictions:
- Segregation and dress: Mandatory veiling and gender-segregated education.
- Marriage and family:
- Polygamy is allowed for men, but not for women.
- Divorce is more accessible to men than to women.
- Custody of children is generally awarded to the father in the event of divorce.
- Muslim women cannot marry non-Muslim men.
- Criminal Law: A woman's testimony is worth half that of a man's in court.
- Civil Rights:
- Women inherit half as much as men.
- Restrictions on political participation and public office.
- Restrictions on freedom of movement without male accompaniment.
Concrete Examples:
- In many Arab communities, women can be victims of ‘honor killings.’ Legal experts in Gaza point out that there is no clear clause in Palestinian law that establishes a sentence for such killings.
- Although not widely practiced in Gaza, some interpretations of Islam prohibit adultery and certain Islamic teachings call for stoning to death of offenders, which disproportionately affects women.
In Gaza, a quarter of married women report being exposed to physical abuse, 62% to psychological violence and 10% to sexual violence. The Sharia imposed by Hamas imposes punishments such as stoning and amputations.
Lapidacion, esto es lo que es el Islam,la Sharia, a pleno rendimiento, se lo dedico con todo cariño a:@Yolanda_Diaz_
— McKeterIsrael (@McketerFreeway) February 19, 2024
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@IreneMontero
@ionebelarra
@RosaVillacastin
@almuariza
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@sumar
@Pod
Que tanto defienden a Hamas y sus "cosas" pic.twitter.com/Fnzy03Wdll
What Are the Goals of the Islamic Terrorist Group Hamas?
Hamas is an extremist Islamic ideology that advocates the extermination and destruction of Israel. Its fundamental goal is to eliminate the Jewish state and replace it with an Islamic state governed by Islamic Sharia law and to make Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, the capital of Palestine.
While Fatah and the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) agreed to renounce armed struggle after the 1993 Oslo Accords and negotiate with Israel, Hamas does not even recognize them as a state. Fatah and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) rule the West Bank, while Hamas administers Gaza. Many countries and international organizations have tried to negotiate with Hamas to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establish peace in the region, but all have failed due to the intransigence of the terrorist organization.
‘There is no solution to the Palestinian problem other than jihad’.
Who Funds Hamas?
While Hamas has had various backers since its founding, including Syria and Saudi Arabia, its main financiers are now Qatar and Iran. Tehran has provided money, weapons, and training to these Palestinian militiamen since the late 1980s, although Iran is a Shia regime, the minority branch of Islam, while Hamas is Sunni. However, both share the slogan ‘Death to Israel’ among their ideological pillars.
Reflections
This contrast between the support of LGBTQ+ and feminist groups in the US and elsewhere and the restrictive human rights policies of this Islamic terrorist group raises several questions:
- Is there a comprehensive understanding of the situation of LGBTQ+ and women's rights in Gaza among these support groups?
- How does support for Hamas reconcile with the fundamental principles of equality and freedom that these movements espouse?
- Is it possible that other geopolitical factors are influencing these positions, beyond human rights considerations?
It is important for LGBTQ+ and women's rights movements to carefully consider the implications of their support for political groups whose policies may be in direct conflict with the principles they defend.
