Support Gazan protesters — it could save lives

Picture: Gaza protest, from Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib X page

Urge international human rights organizations to support Gazan protesters — it could save lives.

Send an email to international human rights organizations calling on them:

Call on these organizations to issue a strong and unequivocal warning to Hamas: refrain from cracking down on peaceful protests and take steps to investigate and address past abuses. So far, the response from much of the international human rights community has been very limited.

This underrepresentation of the risks faced by protestors — and of Hamas’ past and potential repression — is deeply concerning. We believe it’s both possible and essential to be sharply critical of Israel’s horrific crimes in Gaza and of Hamas’ brutality and disregard for Palestinian lives.

The revival of peaceful protests in Gaza — against both the war and Hamas’ authoritarian rule — is now at serious risk of a violent crackdown by the ruling faction. During the previous wave of demonstrations, there were credible reports of torture and extrajudicial killings by Hamas. These abuses must be investigated. The organization has a documented history of using such methods against dissenting voices.

The voice of international human rights groups is urgently needed. Speaking out now could save lives. Hamas considers its ability to generate sympathy — or at least tolerance — among some progressive circles in the West a strategic asset. Human rights organizations still carry weight in these spaces. A clear, unequivocal condemnation of any repression of protestors could compel Hamas to restrain its response in order to avoid damaging its standing among audiences it is keen to influence. Even limited restraint could mean lives spared and people protected from mistreatment — as Palestinian writer and advocate from Gaza, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib has pointed out.

We urge human rights organizations to act immediately: raise your voice against any potential or ongoing violence by Hamas toward protestors in Gaza.

These protests also carry broader significance. They challenge the dehumanizing and false narrative — often echoed by pro-Israel hardliners — that all Gazans support Hamas, a narrative used to justify ruthless warfare with little regard for civilian life. Silencing the protests plays directly into the hands of this destructive propaganda and strengthens the Israeli government’s war machine.

A  sample email (you can copy-paste):