'Free Gazans' campaign seeks to create awareness about how Hamas harms Palestinians

A new educational campaign launched earlier this month is aiming to raise awareness about the importance of getting rid of Hamas so the Palestinian people can build a peaceful and successful future.

‘Free Gazans,’ a U.S. based organization represented by spokesperson David Grasso reports the reality of how Hamas has negatively impacted the Palestinian People on its website, www.freegazans.com.  

“We call upon the global community, human rights organizations, and all advocates for justice to take a closer look at the internal strife and struggle of the Gazans,” the campaign website reads on a page requesting signatures for a petition to stand with Gazans against terrorism.

While many activists have called for an unconditional cease fire, those behind the “Free Gazans” campaign are illuminating the importance of getting rid of Hamas and making sure that international aid gets directly to the hands of Gazans instead of being misused by terrorists. 

Over 1,400 individuals were killed and 240 were kidnapped during a series of Hamas attacks launched from Gaza against Israel on Oct. 7.

The tragic event led to the most recent escalation amid the ongoing tension between the terror group and Israel. Reports have indicated the attack resulted in the murder of more Jews than any other attack since the Nazi Holocaust in the 1940s.

The founders of ‘Free Gazans’ say their objective is to help promote peace by connecting with Palestinians and shining a light on the suffering they have endured as the result of being forced to live under the rule of a terrorist organization that has hijacked their government.

“The goal of FreeGazans.com is to shine a light on the suffering of everyday Palestinians in the Gaza Strip living under Hamas's reign of terror, spokesperson David Grasso told ADN América. “There is no future for Gaza with Hamas. Peace will always be impossible without ushering in a new government. We're bringing awareness to this plain reality without taking sides in this divisive war.”

Many Gazans were malcontent with Hamas before the group's brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel, with some describing its rule as a second occupation, according to rare polling data analyzed by a U.S.-Palestinian researcher, the AFP reported in November. 

“We find in our surveys that 67 percent of Palestinians in Gaza had little or no trust in Hamas in that period right before the attacks," said Amaney Jamal to AFP, the Dean of Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs.

The campaign also aims to highlight how the international community’s efforts to nurture the next generation of Gazans are being thwarted by those prioritizing militarization over education and control over care.

“The future of Gaza’s children has been stolen by the corruption and greed attributed to their supposed protectors,” the campaign website reads, adding that schools and hospitals are militarized and used for acts of war while women and children are used as human shields.

The Hamas de facto authorities in Gaza carried out their first executions in five years, according to an Amnesty International report who added that they also “unduly restrict freedom of expression, association and assembly, at times using excessive force to disperse peaceful gatherings.

In the Gaza Strip, a general climate of repression, following a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests against the rising costs of living in 2019, effectively deterred dissent, often leading to self-censorship.”

HAMAS, which is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement) was designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in October 1997, according to a group description on the website for the Office of the Director National Intelligence (ODNI).

The organization emerged in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, as an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch.

According to ODNI, “the group is committed to armed resistance against Israel and the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel’s place.”

As such, it uses “improvised explosive devices, short- and long-range rockets and mortars, small arms, kidnapping operations, rocket-propelled grenades, man-portable air defense systems, antitank missiles, and unmanned aircraft systems in attacks against Israeli military forces and civilians. The group also uses cyber espionage and computer network exploitation operations.”

The terror group has been widely funded by other Middle Eastern countries.

“The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, commonly known as OFAC, put sanctions on 10 institutions that fund Hamas from Gaza, the West Bank, Sudan, Turkey, Algeria and Qatar. Officials at the Treasury Department had been investigating these entities for years but didn’t kick into gear until after the brazen attacks earlier this month,” according to an Oct. 25, 2023 CNBC report.

Despite its terror strategies and tactics, Hamas is now widely considered the de facto governing body in the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it ousted the Palestinian Authority from power. The Palestinians have not held elections since 2006 when Hamas won a parliamentary majority, according to the Associated Press.

Despite these challenges, ‘Free Gazans’ remains undeterred and is determined to help bring the Gaza Strip back from the darkness of war and into sunlight.

The campaign says that “The children of Gaza deserve a future free from the shackles of exploitation, and the world must come together to ensure that the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people are upheld.”