Gaza Citizens Speak at a Conference in Sderot

In Sderot, a conference that deals with the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict and 15 Gaza residence were able to get an visitor permit in order to participate. It's interesting to get a perspective into what they think and Ynet provides it.

While most Palestinians requested to remain anonymous, Mayin Shakafa, a community organizer was outspoken and was undeterred despite of worries for his family's safety.

Understandably so, Shakafa isn't happy about the Strip's isolation:

He also provided the crowd with his viewpoint of life in the Strip. "We are still holed up in Gaza and bringing everything through tunnels. Why must it be this way?" he asked.

Shakafa, however, does not hold Israel responsible for all his maladies:

Shakafa added that he opposed Hamas, comparing the terror group with Yisrael Beiteinu. "Israel tells us Hamas is outlawed, but for me Yisrael Beiteinu is outlawed too," he said.

The problem with the above analogy is that it's quite difficult to compare a party that never used brute force to take power, accepts a two state solution and does not advocate genocide to Hamas, which took over in a violent coup, calls for Israel's distruction and maintains that Jews are Monkeys and Pigs (check their Charter!).

Shakafa also calls for an Egyptian style popular uprising against Hamas rule in order to have the strip transition into democracy:
Some of the representatives were hopeful. "If they succeeded in overturning the regime in Egypt, which is no less harsh than Hamas, then the Hamas regime can be toppled as well," one participant said.

He added that residents of the Strip "speak through social networks. Our advantage is that the internet cannot be blocked because the servers are in Israel."

Still, fear is rampant, he said, recounting efforts at staging an anti-Hamas protest last week, which went awry. "The attempt was blocked at the last minute. We talk amongst ourselves but there is always a chance that one of the speakers is a representative of Hamas," he said.

Interesting... so the only hope for a democratic transition in Gaza is the 'Dreaded Israeli Occupation (TM)'.

-QP