The Palestinian journalist, feminist and secular Asmaa al-Gul (Rafah, 1982) was one of the women who faced the Islamist government of Hamas, before going into exile in France with her two children, after the war of 2014. In that war, she lost nine family members (now her cousin), when an Israeli bomb destroyed the house she grew up in. It was built by his grandparents after they were expelled in 1948 from the north of what is now Israel. The co-author of A Rebel in Gaza claims that the military branch of Hamas prevented the political branch from continuing with its project to become a "civilian" party because of October 7. And he assures that Hamas cannot be destroyed because it is part of Gazan society.
What did you think after the Hamas attack?
This is not the Hamas attack. It's before that. The siege in Gaza has been going on for more than seventeen years, it is a prison. Every two years there is a new attack by Israel with thousands of deaths. Hope is gone. The reasons for the attack must be sought in the last seventy-five years, since my grandparents had to leave their lands. Of course mistakes were made on October 7. Which go against what Hamas believes. The Koran and Islam say that civilians should not be attacked. Even Salih al-Aruri, one of the leaders of Hamas, has acknowledged this. When Hamas attacks Israeli military positions, it is resistance. We believe in this, not in attacks on civilians.
Israel claims that the Palestinians voted for Hamas and are therefore to blame for their actions.
Israelis also elected Netanyahu, who is one of the most horrible prime ministers in history. I think nothing justifies what is happening in Gaza. There is a collective punishment for all Palestinians. The testimonies of these West Bank teenagers released from Israeli prisons must be heard. Six were killed in prison. They didn't give them enough food and they beat them. And you see the Israeli hostages, which Hamas has treated well. In my story, I am against Hamas because I am secular and they are religious, but I respect what they are doing with the prisoners. Of course, they are prisoners after all. But at least they don't punish everyone like Israel.
What is it like to live under the rule of Hamas being secular?
It is very difficult to be secular both in Gaza and in the Middle East in general. Most of our society is conservative. Of course I had difficulties, it's no secret, I was in prison and I clashed many times with the Hamas government. All my life I have been against conservatives and how they treat women. They want to control the decisions you make in life. But I also remember how I suffered during my childhood with the Israeli occupation, the first intifada was horrible. He was always afraid of the soldiers who attacked the house every week.
Last week he lost part of his family in a bombing.
They killed my cousin, who I grew up with, and her children, and more than seventeen people. I was feeding the children in the kitchen and the bomb came. He killed them all. Because in Palestine the whole family lives in the same building. That's why, when the Israelis attack a building, an entire family disappears from the world. It's genocide. They were killed in Nusseirat, an area the Israelis said was safe. People are still alive by accident, in Gaza. My cousin had six children and she sent the three oldest to buy bread. They survived. He unknowingly saved them.
Do you still have family there?
Yes. That's why I'm scared all the time. i can't sleep I fear that in the second part of the war Israel will kill my father or my sister and her little child. Netanyahu can't even see that we are human beings. Look how arrogant he is, that when [Pedro] Sánchez went to the border in Rafah, he took back the Spanish ambassador. Because? Did Sanchez say anything about saving Hamas? No, he said to save the civilians.
Israel claims it wants to eliminate Hamas. Is possible?
No. Hamas is among the people, it is part of society. An idea cannot be deleted. Imagine, for example, that in Spain he wants to take revenge on one of the parties. He can not. Israel is punishing two million people. The people that Israel has killed are ordinary people, secular, from Al-Fatah, from the OAP parties, from the left or from Gaza's bourgeois... They have killed 150 people from the medical staff. You cannot choose who is Hamas and who is not. They have killed 10,000 women and children. Are they Hamas?
Israel compares Hamas to the Islamic State (IS).
Hamas is a resistance movement, not like IS. Because, first of all, civilians did not sympathize with IS fighters when they were in Iraq and Syria. And they came from many countries motivated by money and oil. Instead, Hamas fighters and leaders have been growing in Gaza since the beginning. They have been fighting since the beginning for the freedom of Palestine, they are part of history, and it is a very noble goal for us as a resistance.
I see his opinion of Hamas has changed with this war.
No. Hamas has not changed, the problems with personal freedoms remain. But in terms of policy, Hamas did change from 2017. In their Document of Principles and General Policies they recognized the Palestinian borders established in 1967. It was a big change. They started to establish an electoral process and also to build Gaza. They should have done a lot more in terms of women's rights, of course, but I don't think anyone gave them the time they needed to make the changes. Especially the military part within Hamas.
What means?
Suddenly, October 7th happened and destroyed everything that Hamas had built. Do you think the political leaders of Hamas knew anything about the attack? I'm absolutely sure not. It was a surprise for them too. The military branch of Hamas did not give the political branch the opportunity to fully become a civilian party.
