Gaza journalist won't be criticizing Terrorist organization Hamas any more after torture. (Yahoo).
Palestinian journalist Ayman
al-Aloul frequently writes about the hardships of life in the Gaza
Strip, and is one of the few voices willing to publicly criticize the
rule of the Islamic Hamas movement.
But after nine
days in jail, al-Aloul says he won't be writing about politics anymore.
He said a painful experience that included beatings and being forced to
sit uncomfortably in a tiny chair has made him a "new man" and that he
will now focus on less controversial topics like sports, food,
literature and fashion.
"I've
decided not to talk about the general situation anymore," al-Aloul said
in an interview at his home Tuesday, a day after he was released. "The
experience I went through was very difficult."
Al-Aloul's
experience is part of a crackdown by Hamas at a time when the
continuing miseries of life in Gaza appear to be driving its population
toward more open dissent. Critics have grown bolder on social media
sites, and attempts by Hamas to impose new taxes have triggered rare
public protests.
He also published pictures of
people looking for leftover food in garbage containers, quoted business
owners angry over increased taxes and blamed Gaza authorities for
prolonged power blackouts.
On
Jan. 3, Hamas forces arrested him and another outspoken critic, Ramzi
Herzallah, in their homes in Gaza City.
During his detention, al-Aloul said he was repeatedly slapped on the face by his interrogators and twice sent to a room known euphemistically as "the bus." He described it as a room equipped with children's chairs, where detainees are blindfolded and forced to sit for an entire day.
During his detention, al-Aloul said he was repeatedly slapped on the face by his interrogators and twice sent to a room known euphemistically as "the bus." He described it as a room equipped with children's chairs, where detainees are blindfolded and forced to sit for an entire day.
"They
think that my posts on Facebook harm the Gaza government," he said.
"They considered criticizing the government to be criticism of 'the
resistance' and they accused me of harming the revolutionary unity,"
al-Aloul said. Terrorist organization Hamas' Interior Ministry declined comment.Read the full story here.
#Turkey PM @Ahmet_Davutoglu dines with #Hamas leader Khaled Mashal for 2.5 hours in Çankaya office in Ankara. Dec.20 pic.twitter.com/PErIBoRNti
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) December 23, 2015
