The “Gaza siege” is a favorite buzzword of the international media and the pro-Palestinian propagandists who feed it. The picture they have so successfully painted in the minds of most Westerners is that the entire population of Gaza is destitute, living in the most pitiable conditions known to man thanks to a heartless Israeli embargo.

And Gaza’s Hamas overlords encourage that perception, when it suits their agenda.

At other times, such as now, with Palestinian municipal elections looming, Hamas is looking to portray Gaza in a much different light.

The above campaign video features average Gazan’s holding signs reading “Thank you, Hamas” against the backdrop of a Gaza Strip that certainly doesn’t match the descriptions propagated by most of the media.

The Gaza Strip has wealthy neighborhoods, green parks, shopping malls, pristine beaches, water parks, etc. And, yes, Gaza also has poor, even destitute areas, like any other population center on earth. Were the mainstream media to likewise only take pictures of the slums of Paris, it too would look like a place of total deprivation.

So, which is it? Is Gaza impoverished or flourishing?