Palestinians in Gaza for the first time since Oct 7 2023 have been spontaneously protesting Hamas rule in Gaza. Will Ramsey Zeid, the President of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba and other local Palestinians and Harold Shuster of Independent Jewish voices join the thousands of protesters In Gaza and call on Hamas to give up power and lay down their arms and vacate Gaza? If not, the question is why not? Why would local Palestinians not join the calls of those Gazans who want to free Gaza from Hamas.? It doesn’t fit the narrative that Israel is to blame for everything, that’s why. If they truly cared about Gazans, Zeid and Shuster and cohorts others would be amplifying the voices in Gaza who want Hamas out, and understand that Hamas is responsible for bringing ruin on Gaza. But on April 2, as anti-Israel protesters gathered outside of the Asper Campus chanting “All Zionists are Racists”, there was not one condemnation of Hamas and not one bit of support offered for the anti-Hamas protesters in Gaza.
As Moumen Al-Natour, a Gazan lawyer has written in the Washington Post, in an article entitled, Gazans Say Hamas's Tyranny Must End , “Thousands of Gazans have joined the protests so far, and I believe we represent the sentiment of a large majority of people who have long been too afraid to stand openly against Hamas. Some in the West will doubtless be confused to see Palestinians openly calling Hamas terrorists, after many protesters in Western cities openly supported Hamas. Take it from someone who has lived under Hamas since age 11: To support Hamas is to be for Palestinian death, not Palestinian freedom. Hamas is killing us – through war, poverty and extortion – not liberating us.”
Al-Natour was a co-organizer of the 2019 "We Want to Live" street demonstrations and a former political prisoner of Hamas.
Below are some of the slogans that Palestinians in Gaza have been using as reported by Ynet News.
In Shejaiya, which has been a Hamas stronghold demonstrators shouted, “For God's sake – Hamas out.”
In Beit Lahiya, protesters raised their voices to chant : “Hamas out, out, Hamas is a terrorist.”
We’re the ones paying the price, not them,” a protester in Beit Lahiya said. “This war must end. Hamas must go.”
In 1central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, Gazans held signs demanding a halt to the violence. In Nuseirat there were calls for Hamas leaders to leave Gaza. “Not Haniyeh, not al-Zahar — we will decide,” one participant said, referring to senior Hamas officials.
According to Real Clear World, protesters called out “No, no to Al Jazeera", the Qatari broadcaster that is seen as Hamas's media mouthpiece. Hamza Howidy, a Palestinian human rights advocate, tweeted, "Not only did Al Jazeera not report our people's demands, protests, and how they risked their lives for it, but they are now attempting to shift the narrative and the protestors' demands… desperately trying to hide the reality about Gaza, that we're done with Hamas and we no longer want them to rule us or for this war to continue."
Other protesters chanted "down with the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood,", as Hamas is an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, a standard-bearer for Islamist groups around the world.
Next time Ramsey Zeid and others rally at the CMHR, or City Hall or at Superstore or elsewhere I hope they use some of the above slogans and demand the end of Hamas rule in Gaza. But they won’t, as that would mean that Palestinian leadership has agency for what has transpired, and will show that to move forward Palestinians need to free themselves from the shackles of Hamas in order for there to be a future for themselves and their children.
On a related note, Ramsey Zeid and cohorts will likely not cite a recent Gallup International poll a majority of Gazans would leave Gaza if they could., showing 52% of Gazans would leave for another country if they had the opportunity, a survey by Gallup International found in the first half of March 2025.
Younger Gazans and those living in Gaza City or Khan Yunis are the most interested in emmigrating to another country according to the Gallup Poll.
Of course, Zeid and cohorts will not call for respecting the wishes of those 52 % Gazans who want to leave Gaza, because, yet again, it doesn’t serve the narrative they wish to promote. If they truly cared about Gazans they would call for allowing all those Gazan’s wishing to leave to be able to do so and be absorbed by surrounding Arab states or other Muslim countries, enabling them to have a better future.
