The democratic revolution movement that toppled two Egyptian presidents has made its way to the Gaza Strip, where a Palestinian youth group is vowing to overthrow Hamas through popular a revolution on Nov. 11.
The Gaza-based group Tamarrod, which shares its name with the democratic Egyptian movement that most recently deposed the Muslim Brotherhood, is calling on the citizens of Gaza to rise up against Hamas.
The group has released a series of statements and videos in recent days that aim to capitalize on the revolutionary spirit that has gripped the Middle East.
Palestinian Tamarrod says that the are "revolting against the oppression in Gaza" and have asked that no foreign governments interfere in their planned Nov. 11 demonstration, which they say will "mark the end of Hamas," according to a translation of their videos and Facebook statements.
The public deadline is symbolically important. It is the same tactic that Egyptian demonstrators adopted when they called for the June 30 protests that eventually toppled former President Mohamed Morsi.
The Muslim Brotherhood has claimed responsibility for building Hamas and played host to its top officials in Egypt.
Tamarrod’s Palestinian affiliate stated Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and called out the terror group for what they term its systematic oppression and abuse of the Palestinian people.
"We can’t remain silent any more, and those who count on our defeat are mistaken losers, while those who count on our tolerance should know that tolerance could come to an end," one of the masked activists says to the camera in Tamarrod’s most recent video.
The group’s remarks were translated by the Ma’an News Agency.
"I think they’re trying to take advance of what’s going on in Egypt" and bring the revolution to Gaza, Mansour Al-Hadj, director of Middle East Media Research Institute’s (MEMRI) Reform in the Arab and Muslim World project, told the Washington Free Beacon after reviewing the group’s materials.
"They call Hamas the Muslim Brotherhood," Al-Hadj said. "The statement is pretty powerful."
The activists, who did not respond to a Free Beacon request for comment, discuss freedom "for the people of Gaza" and list a litany of "violations" that they claim Hamas has perpetrated during its rule, Al-Hadj said.
"It is time we rejected death forcibly under Hamas’ pretext of security," the group says in its video, which accuses Hamas of "murder, torture, sabotage, bribes, vandalism, and smuggling," according to Ma’an.
"Our people, regardless of their political and even religious affiliations, have been targeted by their criminality," they say.
"They [Hamas] have practiced fraud in the name of religion and resistance declaring themselves as believers while they labeled us as disbelievers," the statement adds.
The activists are explicitly positioning themselves as the Palestinian version of Egypt’s popular Tamarrod movement, Al-Hadj said.
"They are pro the military in Egypt and oppose the use of religion in politics," he explained. "They are also peaceful. They don’t believe in violence."
The masked activists say that they are hiding their identities until the people of Gaza rally around the movement. Hamas-aligned security personnel have been known to arrest, beat, and even kill their political enemies.
The group’s Facebook page, which has become a principal form of mobilization in the Middle East, has more than 37,000 "likes" at this point. Their videos have been reposted on several Palestinian and Middle Eastern blogs, garnering thousands of views.
"They are really smart kids," Al Hadj said. "They are seeing atrocities being committed in Gaza and people are not happy with Hamas."
The Palestinian activists have also called on their supporters to boycott the United States, Qatar, and Turkey over their support of the Muslim Brotherhood.