First #AskHamas Session Ends With ‘Some Interesting Results’

Hamas promotional image featuring prominent members

Hamas promotional image featuring prominent members, from left, Ismail Haniya, political leader of Hamas; Hamas spokeswoman Huda Naim, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Secretary of Hamas Bloc; Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for Hamas's military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades; Rahwi Mushtawa, co-founder of Al Majd, a forerunner of Hamas's military wing who spent 25 years in Israeli prisons

Hamas, the political party currently ruling over Gaza, is holding a five-day Twitter session under the hashtag #AskHamas. While most Western media outlets focused on the backlash the campaign generated, little attention has been paid on Hamas’ answers and statements themselves.

Hamas launched its account with a joke:

In its first session, Hamas spokeswoman Huda Naim, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Secretary of Hamas Bloc, answered several questions. Four more sessions are expected.

The following tweets are answers and statements selected by category:

On anti-semitism:

On gender equality:

She even went so far as accusing Israel of targeting Palestinian women:

On the wearing of the veil and choice:

On colonization:

On prospects for peace:

On terrorism, Al Qa'eda and ISIS

On Israel's illegal settlements:

Naim shared an infographic published by Middle East Eye and based on statistics compiled by AFP, Peace Now and BT'Selem.

On violence:

On the occupation and the blockade of Gaza:

On human shields:

Note: The topic of whether Israel and/or Hamas have used human shields is covered in a previous Global Voices Online post.

Finally, Hamas announced that the 2nd session will be with a Palestinian who spent 25 years in Israeli prisons:

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