Support Fatah and you risk making them look like traitors and Hamas like heros.
Fatah is corrupt. Sure they are secular, like Syria, but they are corrupt.
Support Fatah and you risk making them look like traitors and Hamas like heros.
Fatah is corrupt. Sure they are secular, like Syria, but they are corrupt.
Hamas arrested two members of Jaish al-Islam (group responsible for kidnapping BBC correspondent Alan Johnston)...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Sto...115933,00.htmlHamas security forces snatched two members of Jaish al-Islam on their way from dawn prayers on Tuesday and held them at the former Fatah military intelligence HQ. According to a Jaish member, one of the arrested men was given a mobile phone to call his comrades as a start of negotiations to swap them for Johnston, but instead the man told them not to bargain for their freedom.
The militant who said he took that call said: 'The brother told me to refuse all talks with Hamas and to kill Alan if Hamas kills him. This has ended any chance of negotiations.'
Hamas police commander Abu Khalid said: 'There was an operation...to arrest two members of Jaish al-Islam to put pressure on the Dogmosh family. The response to this was that Mumtaz threatened all foreigners and journalists in Gaza.
Hamas detains leader of BBC reporter's abductors amid fighting
http://en.rian.ru/world/20070702/68176800.htmlClashes have erupted for the first time between two Palestinian Islamic movements, Hamas and its former ally the Army of Islam, reportedly holding hostage a BBC reporter, the conflicting sides said.
Hamas, which promised to secure the release of Alan Johnston, arrested a leader of the Army of Islam, Khattab al-Makdusi, early Monday in Gaza after his supporters opened fire at the local "police," the Palestinian Maan news agency said. In response, the Army of Islam took 10 Hamas students hostage.
Last edited by Sarajevo071; 07-03-2007 at 01:34 AM.
The War of Words between Hamas and al-Qaeda
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/t...5.php?CID=2630On June 14, Hamas evicted Fatah security forces from the Gaza Strip, establishing full control over the territory. Eleven days later, al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri issued a statement calling on Muslims to support Hamas fighters -- the latest in an ongoing, public dialogue in which al-Qaeda and Hamas leaders have alternatively decried and praised each other's organizations. An analysis of this public exchange reveals that al-Qaeda is uncomfortable with Hamas leaders even as it fully supports the movement's militants.
For al-Qaeda, any semblance of cooperation with moderate Muslims or "those trying to liberate the land of Islam through elections" is anathema. Consequently, despite initial support for Hamas's electoral gains, al-Qaeda has supported the organization's leaders only to the extent that they reject Fatah and the political process. Likewise, the more Hamas is willing to resort to armed force to accomplish its goals, the more vocal support it can expect from al-Qaeda. In light of these factors, the public debate between the two organizations -- carried out via numerous media outlets, official organizational releases, and other public statements -- has unfolded in four stages since March 2006.
-Being Lonely On Top of Massada, or, Santa Comes To The ME
Hamas has their Massada now, surrounded by Israelis, the sea and Egyptians that don't want their ideology spreading south. Their pathetic attempt at legitimacy visa-via arresting a couple of token jaish al-Islam gunmen is just that, a PR gambit that has no traction. Meanwhile, Fatah loyalists and agents embedded in Gaza will continue to ID hamas leaders and C&C sites for IDF missles. It reminds me in a way of the US giving Stinger missles to the mujahadin in Afghanistan to use against the Soviet Hind choppers. An enemy of an enemy is a temporary friend as they say. Can't you just imagine some Shin Bet and Mossad men sitting down to tea with some of the good ol' boys from Fatah? I would say Christmas comes early for some folks, except Jews and Muslims who don't much believe in Christmas.
Israelis declare Gaza 'hostile'
The people of Gaza held a free and fair election (or as close to that goal as you are likely to get in that part of the world) and elected to dump the corrupt Fatah government and give Hamas a go. Naively they may have hoped that this would have improved their lot but it has only made matters worse as Israel has withheld the taxes collected from the Gazans which they should have paid to the duly elected government to provide essential services. To add insult to injury Israel, the US and EU have all attempted to subvert the peoples choice and constitution by dealing with Fatah as if they were a legitimate representative of the Gazan people. The Gazans are unhappy with their plight but not fooled by who is responsible they blame Israel and the west not Hamas. Gaza is a giant refugee camp whose people are prevented from working, trading or administering its self and it is to our collective fault.
Now “Israelis declare Gaza 'hostile' “
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7002576.stm
I would be too!
The free and fair elections are open to considerable debate and inquiry IMO and I'm all for self-assertion on the palestinians part. Destroying perfectly good buildings simply because Jews had used them then abandoned them is I think an example of self assertion on the part of the palestinians.
Sorry but get it right. The Israelis have destroyed, stripped, and even flattened every building they pulled out of going back to trheir withdrawal from Sinai under Camp David. They did in on the West Bank and they did it in Gaza--the cxommon theme was that they did not want "Arabs" to get the buildings.Originally Posted by goesh
Tom
Gaza disengagement
The 2006 elections were certainly free and fair--Fateh lost them because of corruption, poor governance, a weak economy, and its failure to deliver in the peace process. It also ran a very poor campaign (running more candidates than there were seats in most districts, for example).
As for destroying buildings in the Gaza settlements after Israeli disengagement, this is a rather more complex issue. It was generally recognized that the settler housing was inappropriate in size, shape, and layout for Palestinian families, and that in many cases its recurrent costs (maintenance and previous subsidies) were beyond the abilities of the much poorer Gaza population. Selling the houses to wealthier Palestinians was looked at, but had a number of potential negaitive consequences too. The result was the decision to destroy the houses to use the land more efficiently--it wasn't my recommendation, but it was far from irrational.
In any case, Israel wanted them destroyed too, and tore most of them down, in part to avoid pictures of "victorious" Palestinians raising Hamas flag over abandoned settler buildings.
The productive parts of the settlements (the greenhouses) were kept intact for a while, but poor PA policing led to looting, and Israeli border closures prevented the PA from exporting the produce (despite agreement to facilitate this). They finally fell into disuse and destruction.
(I was a team leader for the initial World Bank study on Gaza disengagement, and participated in some of the early discussion with the Israeli government on this issue.)
Incidentally, the World Bank has just released its latest update on conditions in the Palestinian territories.
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