Hamas Bulldozes Dozens Of Homes In Rafah

Dozens of Palestinian homes were bulldozed and destroyed leaving many Gazans virtually homeless on Sunday. This, after they were beaten out of their houses into the street by police. But it wasn't by the Israelis, although I can bet most people would automatically assume that it was, it was by Hamas, those terrorist leaders that the Gazans overwhelmingly voted to power back in 2007. The reason the homes were demolished? They allegedly built houses on government land in Rafah, without permission. Illegal housing, sound familiar? Israel has been vilified for tearing down houses built without military permits, so where's the outrage with this? Anyone? Destroying the homes of their own people, along with all their possessions?

rafah dYBCn 16298

But it looks like some Gazans might be having second thoughts about having voted for Hamas.

"They promised reform and change - instead they've destroyed our homes," shouted Miasar Gan, a 54-year-old woman. Gan said she and her husband had nowhere else to go.

"I found my mattress, and that's where I'll be sitting," she said, standing next to the concrete chunks - all that was left of her house.

Her neighbor, Nazira Abu Jara, 56, said policewomen wearing face veils typical of conservative Muslim women beat her with clubs until she fled her house with her husband and two children. "Neighbors help us get by with charity. We can't afford to build again," Abu Jara said.

Others picked through rubble to retrieve dusty clothing and mangled furniture.

According to people living in the area, almost 40 houses were razed to the ground and more were expected to be demolished on Monday. Some were made of concrete others tin shacks, but all were homes to people. No-one knows how many are now homeless. And no-one quite knows what's going to happen to these people. Where's the outrage?

Even if they are allowed to rebuild, Israel does not allow most building materials into the territory it has blockaded since Hamas seized power. The newly homeless residents are unlikely to be able to afford the steep black market prices for concrete, steel and wood. Some of the families cannot afford rent.

Rafah's mayor, Issa Nashar, promised alternative housing. Gaza's housing minister Yousef al-Mansi said he had no information about such housing.

This is what happens when you blindly believe in hope and reform and change, without looking past the catch phrases of the day into who is actually promising all those wonderful things. Oftentimes, they don't turn out so wonderfully. So now many hundreds are homeless with nowhere to go. Where's the outrage?