Gaza Protests: A Turning Point or a Moment of Desperation?

The people of Gaza are protesting — and that’s a good thing.

After nearly 18 months of destruction, in which entire neighborhoods have been leveled, infrastructure shattered, and thousands of lives and countless livelihoods lost, Gazans have finally found their voice in opposition to the leadership that brought them to this point. Their protests are directed at Hamas, the rulers who have led them into this disaster.

But we must be clear about what they are not protesting.

Many are not protesting the atrocities committed by Hamas and Gazan civilians on October 7, or the relentless rocket fire aimed at Israeli civilians for over two decades (since Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza in 2005). And there is currently no reason to believe that they are suddenly embracing values of peace, coexistence, and democracy.

On October 7, 2023, as Israel suffered the deadliest terror attack in its history – where men, women, and children were brutally murdered, tortured, and raped. In the streets of Gaza, these acts were celebrated.

But these were not acts of “resistance” — they were displays of unfiltered raw hatred, a hatred nurtured over generations, partly by the UN-funded schools operated by UNRWA.

And just recently, as hostages were released in macabre ceremonies, there were large crowds cheering as their misery was beamed live across the world, as if it was some kind of twisted victory celebration. No widespread protests then. No empathy for the innocent, grossly abused hostages. No disgust for what had been done to them.

The international community, including countries like Australia, has inadvertently contributed to this cycle.

Today, it appears that many Gazans are protesting not out of a moral change of heart, but out of sheer desperation. Perhaps some are realizing the harsh truth: when you initiate a war with the explicit goal of eradicating another nation and you fail, consequences follow.

This is not to say that all Gazans support Hamas or bear equal responsibility for its actions and perhaps. However, history shows that the prevailing sentiment in Gaza has not been one favoring peace.

There is also a glaring irony here. These protests against Hamas are only happening now because Israel has resumed its military campaign against the terror group after its refusal to release more hostages. If much of the world had its way, Israel would be expected to halt its operations, leaving Hamas in power and allowing the hostage crisis to continue indefinitely.

If those who claim to care about Palestinian civilians truly want to help, they should be calling for Hamas’ downfall and pursuing this end in a realistic and serious way. Simply saying Hamas should no longer rule Gaza while opposing all Israeli efforts to topple them is not statecraft but make-believe.

The same can be said of the belief that moving rapidly to establish a Palestinian state after the war is the solution to the Gaza problem, or the road to peace.

This fantastical belief ignores the reality that Gaza effectively was an independent Palestinian state in all but name since 2005 — and look where that lead to.

Hamas devoted all Gaza’s resources — including international aid — to turning every neighborhood into a terror base and to attacking Israel, leading to war after war, and eventually October 7.

And Hamas has endlessly indoctrinated the millions of Gaza citizens with endless hatred, antisemitism, and support for terrorism and “martyrdom.” Thus, the horrific scenes of October 7, when Gaza civilians both celebrated the slaughter of innocent people and partook in the atrocities, is almost certainly more representative of the radicalized Gaza population than the small protests we have seen.

The people of Gaza are protesting — and that’s undoubtedly a good sign,  but that’s not a reason to forget the enormous amount that still needs to be done, in terms not only of removing Hamas from power, but demilitarization and deradicalization of the population and the implementation of a stable government before there can be any realistic prospect of peace and coexistence.

Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).

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