honestly judging journalists for doing their job is such BS. like in my eyes…. it reflects even more poorly on israel bc we’ve all seen how badly palestinians want liberation. we’ve seen how long they’ve been fighting for freedom. they want their land back.

the fact that they’re so frustrated they’re willing to just give up… it shows how badly this genocide is breaking them down. they feel hopeless. and we are in no place to judge them for that. our job isn’t to criticise them for wanting to survive. it’s to keep insisting that israel be stopped and dismantled.

also it’s so funny bc i spoke to my arab friend and she explained how the motaz clip specifically did not criticise hamas. he said that the oppression led to a natural retaliation of resistance forces. and he said he’d live to live in peace.

people are picking apart individuals being bombed 24/7 and it’s just so– sigh.

i really hope we can stop being sidetracked this way. the focus should always be on palestinian liberation and rights. we shouldn’t be sitting around judging people in gaza for being exhausted. we should be empathetic and keep protesting and insisting for an end to occupation.

tbh it genuinely feels like people are getting sidetracked and distracted from the point of this cause :/ which is exactly what the zionist lobbies want. like bro get it together!

I think it's somewhat to be expected at this point because popular support for Palestine is going turbo the more the Israelis escalates, but it doesn't mean much when the Biden Administration is stonewalling us harder than Bush. So all hopes do rest on Hamas and its allies, which makes people insanely protective and reactionary at the expense of, you know, the actual victims. It's very hard for coalition movements to hold longer than its forward momentum, which is the exact thing being sabotaged by the US. I'm afraid that the longer we stay stymied, the more the disparate factions will fall apart.

Okay so, this is veering into conjecture but here's what I think: popular support for Hamas, which was at an all-time high before Oct 7th, might now be waning in Gaza for obvious reasons. It will likely recede further when the grief sets in properly. Hamas couldn't have foreseen this level of carnage, but I'm pretty sure they prepared for an intense retaliation, and Gazans were the ones who always had to live with the fallout. I have no doubt that they'll manage to beat the IOF if the current trajectory stays on, but it might turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory in the end. And it's not certain that the trajectory will hold, because Israel still has an endless well of support from the Western and Arab governments and the Western right-wing, as well as aircraft attack capabilities which is basically what makes the US so formidable. What is working is the sabotaging of the Israeli economy, but again the question becomes how long can they keep it up. With these obvious pressures and time crunches looming, I can see the most fanatical of Hamas supporters deprioritizing actually rescuing the Gazans and even consigning them to "martyrs for the cause". For this element the Gazans would be valuable political pawns and their suffering a tool for destroying Israel's narrative. I'm not sure whether this includes Hamas's own leadership and rank and file. Israel is unequivocally the Bad Guy, but the fact is that there are no "Good Guys" in a war. All militaries involve a high level of indoctrination and ideological loyalty over dedication to the humans they're supposed to protect. I'm not speaking of militant Palestinians themselves; I'm guessing it would also include a sizeable chunk of Arab nationalists and the Tankie infestation that's jumped all over the pro-Palestine wagon. So it's very possible that the divergence between the military objective of the resistance and humanitarian objective will be highlighted more and more by the Gazans themselves, turning them from asset to liability. As I see it, this is the main faultline of the coalition.

I might be reading tea leaves at this point, but what I'm saying is that I can see where this asshole contingent might originate from. It's impossible for fanatics and armchair warriors to see people as people instead of props and tools for their pet causes and agendas. You can't reason with these people, only deplatform and block.

#Hamas: The Islamist Team Cracks Down On Social networking Activists

Enlarge this imageActivist Ramzy Herzalla (2nd from suitable) recruited buddies to affix the We’ve been Below to create You content group and aid needy Gazans. The charity, he says, “is a information on the governing administration that it’s meant to be supporting the persons this way.”Emily Harris/NPRhide captiontoggle captionEmily Harris/NPRActivist Ramzy Herzalla (2nd from proper) recruited mates to join the We’ve been Right here to create You content team and support needy Gazans. The charity, he says, “is a me sage for the authorities that it is supposed to become helping the people by doing this.”Emily Harris/NPRFor Ayman Al-Aloul, the first night time in jail was the worst. “I was cold. I had been unwell,” the now-free head of Al Arab Now information agency, stated within an interview in his Gaza Town busine s. “I was contemplating of many of the i sues I have finished in my lifetime, but I could not blame myself since I failed to know why I used to be there.” Aloul, forty four, was arrested Jan. 3, taken from his dwelling by some half-dozen Hamas law enforcement officers, who confiscated two laptops and his telephone. He was held for 8 days, and tells of currently being forced to carry even now for extensive durations in awkward positions and of currently being struck throughout interrogations. Aloul suggests investigators wished to know just one factor: Who was paying out him to criticize Hamas on social websites? “I lastly figured out my interrogator failed to really know what a hashtag was,” Aloul suggests now using a chuckle. “Because he asked like it absolutely was some thing you buy.” Activists in https://www.flyersshine.com/Dave-Schultz-Jersey Gaza say social media marketing strategies critical of Hamas have gotten the attention in the armed Islamist group which includes ruled Gaza for nearly a decade now. Ramzy Herzalla, 27, an activist who was arrested the identical 7 days as Aloul, suggests a single campaign rallied from Hamas designs to charge a payment to enter a community park. The designs have not gone into influence.Herzalla also cites criticism he posted protesting govt destruction of the dwelling to make way to get a highway. He suggests an formal with the Ministry of Inside identified as and instructed him to consider his posts down; they’d put up their unique response. “If they did not treatment about what we post, they would not contact us and react,” Herzalla states. What landed Aloul and Herzalla in prison was a concern crucial to each and every Gazan: a way out and in from the Gaza Strip. Enlarge this imageAyman Al-Aloul, a journalist who was arrested and held for 8 times in January, not posts open up criticism of Hamas, declaring he isn’t solid plenty of to encounter down the militant group. “I desire a governing administration that has the people’s fascination as priority,” he claims.Emily Harris/NPRhide captiontoggle captionEmily Harris/NPRAyman Al-Aloul, a journalist who was arrested and held for 8 times in January, no more posts open criticism of Hamas, declaring he isn’t potent more than enough to experience down the militant group. “I desire a governing administration which has the people’s curiosity as priority,” he claims.Emily Harris/NPRThere are two border cro sings for travelers. A single, called Erez, during the north, goes into Israel. Entry nece sitates a allow through the Israeli army. It truly is generally used by traders, Gazans authorised for remedy in Israeli or Palestinian hospitals outdoors Gaza and, periodically, individuals permitted to take a look at Jerusalem for Friday prayers. The other, in close proximity to the city of Rafah about the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, goes into Egypt. When this is certainly open, it is really a much simpler cro sing for Gazans, who travel to Cairo for health treatment, to fly to Europe or maybe the U.S. for college, or to fulfill relatives who are unable to enter the Gaza Strip. If the Rafah cro sing is open up has constantly fluctuated with politics and safety. A January social websites marketing campaign referred to as on Hamas to “hand above Rafah” that means hand management around the Gaza side to safety forces from the Palestinian Authority, which has minimal power in Gaza appropriate now. The theory, extensive le s than dialogue internationally, is always that PA guards could well be more satisfactory to Christian Folin Jersey Egypt, along with the Egyptians would open up the now mostly-closed border. Enlarge this imageThe We have been Below For making You content team installs battery-operated lights, needed through regular power outages, at a residence in Gaza.Emily Harris/NPRhide captiontoggle captionEmily Harris/NPRThe We’ve been Here To create You cheerful team installs battery-operated lights, vital through recurrent ability outages, in a dwelling in Gaza.Emily Harris/NPRBut all those guards are beneath the command of Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president and head of Hamas’ rival Palestinian party, Fatah. Hamas and Fatah haven’t reconciled considering the fact that bloody battles in 2007, a calendar year following Hamas received the last Palestinian parliamentary elections, in 2006. So for as long as this idea has been proposed, Hamas has balked. In January, the social media marketing marketing campaign took off. Gazans say it appeared a large number of people today lose concern of criticizing Hamas applying their unique names. Herzalla, considered one of the leaders, said activists experienced a system to steadily force Hamas. “We get started on Facebook. We get a large variety of men and women observing and adhering to us. Then another move was intended to become avenue demonstrations. Nonethele s they arrested us correct before the avenue part.” For him, on the web activism is a approach to try to hold Hamas accountable for the indignities of day by day life in Gaza beneath its control which it fails to improve. Fame gained from his political activism led needy Gazans to request Herzalla to use social media to help elevate dollars that can help them. Herzalla has turned this into a challenge, recruiting good friends to kind the We’re Below For making You happy crew. 1 working day very last week, they put in battery-operated lights, vital throughout repeated electrical power outages in Gaza, into your homes of 39 weak households. And in spite of the arrest his fourth, and longest Herzalla retains heading. The charity, he states, “is a information to your authorities that it is intended to generally be aiding the men and women this fashion. https://www.flyersshine.com/Jakub-Voracek-Jersey ” Aloul, although, has retreated to some degree. He no more posts open criticism of Hamas, stating he isn’t solid sufficient to facial area down the militant group. The two would love a much better neighborhood govt. Herzalla desires routine change. Aloul isn’t really so absolutely sure there exists everything superior. Fatah, he believes is corrupt. The only real other po sible alternate he sees over the horizon is ISIS a lot even worse than Hamas, he claims. It is not about who governs, Aloul suggests, but how. “I need a govt which has the people’s interest as priority,” he claims. He’s not expecting one in Gaza whenever before long.

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Expert: “We cannot allow the Israeli Government to treat Palestinian lives as inferior to their own, which is what they consistently do,” David Steel tells the House of Lords. I’d like to share with you the speech by Steel (aka Lord Steel of Aikwood) in a recent House of Lords debate, the motion being ‘That this House takes note of the situation in the Palestinian Territories’. Steel himself opened proceedings with as good a summing-up of the appalling situation as I have heard anywhere. Here it is word for word from Hansard: My Lords, I put in for the ballot for today’s debate just after the terrible slaughter of 62 Palestinians inside the Gaza fence, which included eight children. I should at the outset ​declare a former interest. I served for seven years as president of the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians — and I am delighted to see that the current president, the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton, is to speak in this debate. During that time I visited Israel, the West Bank and Gaza several times, once touring Gaza just after the Cast Lead operation, when I saw for myself the wanton destruction of hospitals, schools and factories in what was described by David Cameron as one vast prison camp. Before anyone accuses me of being one-sided, let me also say that I spent an afternoon with the local Israeli MP in the Ashkelon area in the south of that country and fully understand the intolerable life of citizens there threatened by rockets fired by Hamas from inside Gaza. In fact, long before I got involved with MAP, back in 1981, I first met Yasser Arafat, leader of the PLO, at a time when our Government would not speak to him on the grounds that the PLO was a terrorist organisation refusing to recognise Israel, a mistake that we have repeated with Hamas. As I got to know Arafat over the years, I recognised that he was a brilliant liberation leader but a disappointing failure as head of the Palestinian Administration. Indeed, it was the incompetence and even corruption of that Administration which led to the success of Hamas in the election in Gaza. But those of us who pride ourselves in democracy cannot just give them the cold shoulder because we did not like the result, and yet that is what happened. The lesson of the successful peace process in Northern Ireland should surely have taught us that the only route to peace has to be through dialogue with those we may not like, rather than confrontation. That brings me to the policy of the current Israeli Government, backed by the United States of America and, sadly, by our own Government. Israel’s great tragedy was the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin, who had been relentless in his pursuit of an agreement with the Palestinians. The current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is very different. I met him once at a breakfast meeting in Tel Aviv. I admired his obvious ability and indeed swagger. He could, had he so wished, have gone down in history by heading an Administration to pursue a legitimate settlement with the Palestinians based on the 2002 Arab peace initiative, when every member state of the Arab League had offered to recognise Israel and host her embassies in their countries in return for the establishment of a proper Palestinian state. Instead, he has allied himself to the most reactionary forces in the Knesset and come close to destroying any hopes of such an outcome with the growing illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, the construction of the wall, routed in places condemned even by the Israeli courts, and the encouragement of Donald Trump’s opening of the American embassy in Jerusalem. It was that last event that provoked the mass demonstration at the Gaza fence, dealt with not by water cannon but with live ammunition from the Israel Defense Forces. That resulted not only in the deaths that I mentioned but in over 3,600 people being injured. One Israeli soldier was wounded. According ​to the World Health Organization, 245 health personnel were injured and 40 ambulances were hit. Last week, Razan al-Najjar, a 21 year-old female volunteer first responder, was killed while carrying out her work with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. She was clearly wearing first-responder clothing at the time. In the meantime, the Israeli Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, one of the reactionaries to whom I referred a moment ago, has declared that there are “no innocent people” in Gaza, while an UNRWA report declares that the blockade situation is so bad that Gaza is becoming unliveable in. I do not know whether the Israeli Government know or care about how low they have sunk in world esteem. When I was a student in the 1950s, many of my friends, not just Jewish ones, spent their vacations doing voluntary work in a kibbutz, such was the idealism surrounding the birth of the Israeli state, but that is no longer the case. The reason I joined the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel group was that I got fed up with being blamed, as Liberal leader, for the then Government’s Balfour Declaration encouraging the establishment of that state, people forgetting that the famous letter included the words, “it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”. The conduct of its present Government is a clear betrayal of the basis on which the Lloyd George Government welcomed a state of Israel. I spent some years active in the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Only much later did I realise one noted fact about those who had led the white population’s opposition to apartheid—my dear friend Helen Suzman, Zach de Beer, Harry Oppenheimer, Hilda Bernstein, Ronnie Kasrils, Helen Joseph, Joe Slovo and so many others were predominantly Jewish—which was that they knew where doctrines of racial superiority ultimately and tragically led. I rather hope that the recent slaughter in Gaza will awaken the international conscience to resolute action in the same way that the Sharpeville massacre led to the ultimately successful campaign by anti-apartheid forces worldwide. The Israeli Government hate that comparison, pointing to the Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship or sit in the Knesset, but on visits to that beautiful and successful country one cannot help noticing not just the wall but the roads in the West Bank which are usable only by Israelis, just as facilities in the old South Africa were reserved for whites only. Recently some of us met a couple of Israeli professors in one of our committee rooms. They stressed to us the urgency of staying with UN Security Council Resolution 2334, passed as recently as December 2016, which roundly condemns all the illegal activities of the current Administration. It is worth reminding the House of just three of its 13 clauses, beginning with this one: “Condemning all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including, inter alia, the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of ​Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law”. A second clause reads: “Underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations”. A third reads: “Stresses that the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-State solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the grounds that they are imperilling the two-State solution”. Those are not my words: they are taken from the UN Security Council. My mind went back to 1967 when, as a young MP, I was present when our then UK representative at the United Nations, Lord Caradon, led the drafting of Resolution 242 which was supposed to be the building block for peace after the Arab/Israeli war. My complaint is that the international community, including successive British Governments, have paid only lip service to that and allowed Israel to defy the United Nations and trample on the rights of the Palestinians. But there are signs of hope. The noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, knows how high he is held in the opinion of the House and we cannot expect him as the Minister of State to change United Kingdom policy, but when the Statement on Gaza was made in the other place, two senior and respected Conservative ex-Ministers gave strong voice objecting to our current stance. Sir Nicholas Soames hoped that our Foreign Office would “indulge in a little less limp response to the wholly unacceptable and excessive use of force”, while Sir Hugo Swire said that “one reason it is a festering hellhole and a breeding ground for terrorists is that each and every time there has been an attempt to improve the livelihoods of the Gazans, by doing something about their water … or about their quality of life, Israel has blockaded it”. We are entitled to ask the Minister to convey to the Prime Minister that she needs to be more forceful, honest and frank when she next meets Mr Netanyahu. Yesterday’s Downing Street briefing said she had “been concerned about the loss of Palestinian lives”, which surely falls into the description of a continuing limp response. We cannot allow the Israeli Government to treat Palestinian lives as inferior to their own, which is what they consistently do. That is why our Government should not only support the two-state solution, but register our determination and disapproval of their conduct by accepting the decisions of both Houses of our Parliament and indeed the European Parliament and recognise the state of Palestine without further delay. David Steel, son of a Church of Scotland minister, was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles in 1965 and, being only 23, was dubbed  the “Baby of the House”. He wasted no time making his mark and introduced, as a Private Member’s Bill, the Abortion Act 1967. Following the Jeremy Thorpe scandal he became Liberal Party leader until the merger with Labour renegades that formed the Liberal Democrats. He was elevated to the House of Lords in 2004 as Baron Steel of Aikwood. As Steel mentions in his speech, he served for 7 years as president of the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a remarkable organisation that “works for the health and dignity of Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees”. He lives in Aikwood Tower, a Borders fortified house built in 1535 which he painstakingly restored and modernised in the 1990s. Aikwood Tower or Oakwood Tower (MacGibbon and Ross) Courtesy of Castles of Scotland   http://clubof.info/

Breaking News: The Gazan leading a popular uprising against Israel

New Post has been published on https://www.thisdaynews.net/2018/05/16/breaking-news-the-gazan-leading-a-popular-uprising-against-israel/

Breaking News: The Gazan leading a popular uprising against Israel

Gazan leads uprising against Israel 03:07

Gaza (CNN) “I looked up at the birds in the sky, flying through the trees on both sides of the barbed wire fence without being stopped. What is simpler than this? The birds decide to fly so they fly.”

On a dirt berm overlooking the Gaza-Israel border, Ahmad Abu Artema reads a poem he penned and used to inspire a popular uprising. “Why do we complicate simple matters?” reads Abu Artema.

A rattle of Israeli gunfire in the distance punctuates his verses.

“Is it not the right of people to move freely like birds as they wish?”

The 33-year-old writer, activist and self-described dreamer has mobilized tens of thousands of Gazans with a simple idea for this region — nonviolent resistance.

“I refuse outright the principle that walls and fences should separate people from each other. I believe people of different cultures and backgrounds should live together peacefully, without borders,” he said.

Abu Artema is the organizer of the “Great March of Return” movement, whose declared aim is to highlight the Palestinian right to return to homes and villages lost by their ancestors in the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli war.

Every Friday since March 30, Palestinians have amassed at the Gaza border fence to demonstrate. At least 100 have died during the protests, according to a CNN count based on Palestinian Health Ministry figures.

Dozens of Palestinian were killed in Gaza on Mondayduring protests called to mark the official unveiling Monday of the new US Embassy in Jerusalem.

President Donald Trump’s decision to relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city has upended decades of US foreign policy in the region, enraging the Palestinians and many Arab countries.

Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, and other Islamist factions have backed the movement. Hamas leader Yahya al-Sinwar has spoken at one of the protests, applauding protesters who have faced “the enemy who besieges us.”

Abu Artema says he holds no political affiliations and denies the movement has any ties to Hamas, a group considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, and the European Union.

Israel insists this protest movement is orchestrated by Hamas. It has described the attacks on the fence as terrorism, and says children are deliberately being placed in harm’s way.

“They (protests) are designed to bring about the destruction of Israel,” Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the US, told CNN. “They are designed to break through the fence and kill Israelis and we have to proceed with that assumption. Our soldiers have prevented it, so [in] that way it’s a success.”

US opens new Embassy in Jerusalem as dozens die in Gaza clashes

The weekly march to the border culminates on Tuesday — Palestinian Nakba Day, or “Day of Catastrophe,” which commemorates the more than 700,000 Palestinians who were either were expelled from or fled their homes during Israel’s creation. Thousands are expected to attend Tuesday’s demonstration.

“I have always believed in non-violence, and I am happy to see this change, to see people in Gaza accepting this more than before,” Abu Artema said. “Many here now believe that their goals can be fulfilled by this method more than by violent resistance,” he adds.

A more than decade-long air, land, and sea blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt has deteriorated basic services, contributed to high unemployment, and placed huge restrictions on Gazans’ freedom to leave the small coastal enclave.

Israel says the blockade is needed to pressure Hamas into stopping rocket attacks into Israel.

A demonstrator uses a racket to return a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops during clashes at the Gaza border on Friday, May 11.

The United Nations has said the narrow coastal strip will be “unlivable” by 2020 if conditions continue to decline at the current rate.

“Our hardships induced this scream for life. The March of Return is a scream for life so that we may leave the walls of our prison,” Abu Artema said. “Why would we die here in silence? We want our message to reach the world. We want to say to the world ‘here there is a people. A people searching for a life of dignity, human rights and freedom.'”

On March 30, Abu Artema saw his dreams realized, as thousands of Palestinians staged a sit-in along the border barrier, the largest such gathering in years. Organizers wanted to create a festival-like atmosphere setting up canopies, portable bathrooms and free-wifi to attract families.

But promises of pacifism quickly deteriorated into a familiar pattern of violence: Israeli troops traded live fire and rubber bullets with Molotov cocktails and stones, leaving 17 Palestinians dead and 1,400 wounded that day, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

There has been strong international condemnation of Israel’s use of live ammunition, but the Israeli army insists it is firing in accordance with the rules of engagement.

The bloodshed has not deterred participation in the now seven-week long demonstration that has seen dozens of Palestinians lose their lives to Israeli gunfire. No Israelis have been killed or injured in the confrontations.

Ahmad Abu Artema says he is inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.

“These borders for us here in Gaza symbolize chokehold and oppression,” Abu Artema said. “Youth in Gaza are saying enough to this slow death and they want to break downs these walls and barriers. I hope Israel and the world will consider our call with an open mind.”

At a protest camp near the border, where teenagers practiced slingshot and prepared tires to burn as smoke screens on Sunday, the unlikely leader seemed out of place. Abu Artema says he has never thrown a rock at an Israeli soldier, and still feels more comfortable in a library than in a crowd.

Still many gather around the soft-spoken, bespectacled intellectual and update him on their plans to challenge Israeli border security, which varies from small barbed wire fences to 20-foot concrete walls along the 32-mile frontier.

“How is your morale?” he asked a man in crutches who was wounded during the first March of Return protest.

“It is good, I thank God,” the protester responded. “Tomorrow I will break the barbed wire fence and cross. Nothing will stop me. Not even an F-16.”

Abu Artema’s disdain for borders began in childhood after his parents separated and his mother was forced to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.

“I was on the Palestinian side of Rafah and even though my mom’s house was just 150 meters away I couldn’t cross to her,” he recalled. “It bore in me the question: why these fences that keep people from normal human connections? Today in Gaza it is the same problem, the fence represents oppression.”

Israeli forces fire teargas canisters toward Palestinian demonstrators at the Gaza border on Friday, May 11.

Abu Artema says he spent his youth studying the principles of nonviolent resistance to draw parallels between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the civil rights movement in America, apartheid in South Africa and the fight against British rule in India.

“I was inspired by Gandhi. He was a main educator for me. I like the way he fought by peace. I think what is right is stronger than weapons, so I like the method of Gandhi, I like the method of Martin Luther King,” Abu Artema said.

Like his idol, Martin Luther King Jr., Abu Artema has a dream. He hopes that one day Israelis and Palestinians can live in one nation where they will not be judged by their background or faith.

“I think we can live together,” Abu Artema said. “We have the seeds to live together but without occupation, without apartheid, with equality, with human rights, in one democratic state.”

What the Qatar crisis means for Hamas

(CNN)When Palestinian militant group Hamas announced its new charter to the world, it wasn't from Ramallah or Gaza City, but from the Sheraton hotel's gilded Salwa Ballroom in Doha.

It was no surprise that Hamas chose Qatar. It's the home of outgoing Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, and much of his senior leadership.

"Qatar is quite important for Hamas," said H.A. Hellyer, a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council. "Qatar provides strong financial aid to the occupied Palestinian territories and is a safe haven for a number of Hamas leaders."

The recent crisis in the Persian Gulf region is putting that relationship in jeopardy. Earlier this month, nine countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed financial embargoes of varying severity.

The announcement was the culmination of a feud that had been simmering for years. The nine countries accused Doha of assisting terrorist organizations, providing support for the Muslim Brotherhood and of being far too cozy with Iran.

OPINION: Don't be fooled by Hamas' rebranding

Ironically perhaps, Qatar's relationship with Hamas had not been among the biggest issues dividing the region.

Unlike the US, Britain, and Europe, all of which designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, Arab states -- including Qatar -- do not. This was something Qatar's Foreign Minister sought to remind people in an interview with Russia's RT, in response to a call from his Saudi counterpart that Qatar stop supporting Hamas.

"The US views Hamas as a terror organization. But to the rest of the Arab nations, it is a legitimate resistance movement. We do not support Hamas, we support the Palestinian people," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.

"Hamas' presence [in Doha] is coordinated with the US and the countries in the region, and it's part of our effort to mediate between the Palestinian factions to reach reconciliation."

OPINION: Hamas has a huge long-term problem

Qatar crisis threatens to tear families apart

Unreasonably squeezed?

For its part, Hamas says it is being squeezed unreasonably.

"The Gulf Countries are pressuring Qatar to cut relations with resistance organizations. This is unacceptable and we refuse this pressure," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoom said in a statement to CNN. "We are a resistance movement and the whole world is a witness to this."

Hamas is seen as having been under a series of pressures for the last few years, reflected in some significant internal changes.

Last month, a new leader was announced -- Ismail Haniya taking over from long-time leader Meshaal -- at the same time as the militant group issued its new charter.

While Israel pointed to the fact the new document continued to espouse violent resistance, and a commitment to the "rejection of the Zionist entity," others observers said the document's description of a Palestinian state with the borders existing on the eve of the Six Day War in 1967 provided evidence of a new moderation.

As Hamas rank and file were digesting those changes, so the leadership was suddenly forced to pay careful attention to diplomatic developments. Hellyer sees two main reasons the nine regional allies are turning their attention towards Hamas.

"First, Hamas has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood organization, which puts it in the firing line of Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia," Hellyer says. "But I think this has more to do with a western audience. The Saudi rulers took advantage of Trump's recognition of them as a powerful actor in the region and that might have encouraged them."

What in the World: Trump & the Qatar Quarrel

Al Jazeera: 'Thorn'

Al Jazeera, based in Qatar, has been a thorn in the side of regional autocrats for years. Qatar's regional influence also comes from support for Islamists, whether it is the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas at one end of the spectrum, or Al Qaeda at the other.

Unraveling the Qatar crisis

Crisis threatens to split mom from kids

Qatar Airways boss calls on US

Iran sends planes stuffed with food

US suspects Russian hackers

World cup a bargaining chip

Philippines stops sending workers

Gulf crisis: What you need to know

Doha has used this sway to negotiate with various groups including the Taliban, as well as to help negotiate ceasefires between Israel and Hamas.

In late 2010 and into 2011, Qatar saw its influence throughout the Middle East rise sharply. Al Jazeera, already a thorn in the side of Arab autocrats, reported extensively on the Arab Spring.

The Al Jazeera Arabic channel grew additional roots in Egypt after the uprising and election of Mohamed Morsy who hailed from the Muslim Brotherhood. The international community praised the new Egyptian president for bringing a swift end to a war between Gaza militants and Israel that same year.

In the long run, though, as it unraveled across the region, the Arab Spring proved to be disastrous for Hamas, which saw the number of countries it could call a friend whittled away.

"Hamas had very strong relations with Syria, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Iran," says Mustafa Barghouti, an independent Palestinian politician. "Things have changed over time so they had to diversify relations."

Move from Damascus

Food, fuel and flights: How Qatar may suffer

Before 2012, the Hamas leadership was based out of Damascus. Tensions grew between the militants and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad as revolution gripped the country. Eventually, Hamas sided with the rebels and cut ties to some extent with Syria, Hezbollah, and Iran.

"Hamas lost a lot in the uprisings," says Hellyer. "This is one of the reasons why Qatar stepped in."

Qatar, a strong supporter of both the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hamas, took advantage of the situation.

In the fall of 2012, the head of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, visited the Gaza Strip becoming the first world leader to do so under Hamas control. The emir inaugurated projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In the vacuum left by other countries, Qatar saw its influence over the Strip rising quickly.

But Doha's ambitions hit a roadblock on July 3, 2013 when Mohamed Morsy was ousted by Egypt's military in a coup. The Muslim Brotherhood were stripped of their power and their influence. The new ruler -- General Abdel Fatah El Sisi -- was hostile toward Qatar and Hamas.

He accused Hamas of supporting the Brotherhood in the post-coup violence. Hundreds of smuggling tunnels, along the border with Gaza, were taken out of action, thus severing a vital lifeline to the coastal strip. Indeed, relations between Hamas and Cairo grew so bad that Egyptian pundits cheered Israel and praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the 2014 war between Gaza Militants and Israel.

Less than three years later, and that Egyptian resentment, shared by its Arab allies, exists now as a power play aimed at bending Qatar to its will.

"It's difficult to imagine Qatar able to hold out against such a restrictive system around them. I expect quite a few people in Qatar are looking for a way to compromise," explains Hellyer. "The problem is, the temperature has risen so much so quickly that there are no face saving measures. If Doha concedes to the demands, it'll look quite bad for Doha internally."

A break with Qatar?

Perhaps the most immediate sign of any acquiescence would be for Qatar to expel the Hamas leadership. Sudan or Turkey might be places of refuge if that were to happen, according to Hallyer.

"Until this moment, Qatar hasn't informed us of any decision to leave Doha," says Hamas's Barhoom. "We are welcomed in many countries. We had elections and will consider new arrangements. The residency of Hamas leadership might change according to a decision taken by the leadership itself."

A break with Qatar wouldn't break Hamas -- the organization has survived before without Qatar's money -- but it would surely compound the dire situation in Gaza, say observers.

According to the United Nations, the unemployment rate in the strip hovers around 65% and one million people rely on food handouts from the UN's Palestinian refugee agency.

"It's a very serious, dangerous and explosive situation," says Barghouti. "Qatar has been helping the Gazans by supplying them with electricity and fuel. Breaking ties would drastically affect the civilians. My worry is squeezing Hamas too much could lead to certain splits and allow certain radicalization."

Ultimately, he says, this feud between the Gulf countries could have a negative effect on Palestinian ambitions for an independent state.

"Internal disputes in the Arab world, between Arab countries, are bad for Palestine. One very important effect is that this distracts from the Palestinian need for liberation and independence," says Barghouti. "We Palestinians need these problems resolved as soon as possible."

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