"Murderous Terrorists"
It must sting to know that a group with whom you had a fairly close working association in a common cause thought so little of you that they conspired to murder you. Tension among rivals, suspicions and attempts at one-upsmanship is one thing, but the planning of an elaborate scheme to blow up a cavalcade of politicians, among them the president of the PA? Well, business as usual in the Palestinian Territories.But President Mahmoud Abbas is livid. And he isn't going to take it any longer. He has denounced Hamas and former prime minister of the PA, Ismail Haniyeh as "murderous terrorists". Having said which, is there any going back? Bearing in mind that there were scores of other attempts against Fatah members which enjoyed greater success in their execution?
Israel is now enabling greater numbers of Palestinians fleeing from Gaza's madhouse to cross over to enter the West Bank; on their way seeking medical attention at Israeli hospitals. For their trouble, Islamic Jihad took the initiative to remind Israel that Hamas isn't their only worry and Israeli warplanes have struck at their rocket launching sites in Gaza.
Just one great big happy war game, and everyone's invited.
And dissension, and recrimination! "It was a premeditated plan agreed between Hamas leaders in Gaza and abroad, with foreign elements from the region", grumped Mr. Abbas, accusing Hamas of deliberately splitting the two Palestinian territories. "It was a plan to divide Gaza from the West Bank and to establish a state within a state, that will be controlled by one group, its fanatics and its terrorists".
Well, certainly. Yes indeed.
Meanwhile, Sami Abu Zuhri, an official Hamas spokesperson accused Mr. Abbas of being part of an Israeli and Western "plot" to cut up the Palestinian state-potential by separating Gaza from the occupied West Bank. Right, right. We get the picture. Confusing, though, considering that Hamas took the initiative and ran with it, grabbing Gaza for its very own, along with its bitterly downtrodden and destitute population.
Now Hamas is sugar-coating its willingness to let bygones be bygones and re-establish a 'unity' government with Fatah. Is Fatah eager and willing to once again embrace Hamas? - no, they're dreadfully stand-offish, issuing such puzzling statements as: "No dialogue with putschists, murderers and terrorists!"
A comedy of terrors.
Labels: Middle East, Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, June 21, 2007
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