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First #AskHamas Session Ends With ‘Some Interesting Results’

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Palestine, Citizen Media, War & Conflict
Hamas promotional image featuring prominent members

Hamas promotional image featuring prominent members, from left, Ismail Haniya [1], political leader of Hamas; Hamas spokeswoman Huda Naim [2], member of the Palestinian Legislative Council [3] 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 [4]. While most Western media [5] 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 [2], member of the Palestinian Legislative Council [3] 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 [46] and based on statistics compiled by AFP, Peace Now [47] and BT'Selem [48].

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 [67].

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