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October 4, 2006

Gaza: Islamist Infighting Could See Hamas Government Dissolved

When on January 25 the Palestinians voted in a government led by Hamas, the Western world reacted by removing funds as the "party" had engaged in hundreds of acts of terrorism against Israel. Once in power, Hamas under the leadership of Ismail Haniyeh made no effort to act in any statesmanlike fashion. A few days after the election, members of Hamas, accompanied by members of Islamic Jihad and their rivals, Fatah, "closed down" the offices of the EU in Gaza. This was done on account of the cartoon crisis. The EU were one of the main providers of aid.

Hamas officially took the reins of power in March.

After biting the hands that fed them, Hamas then armed 2,000 of its followers, who soon engaged in conflicts with their Fatah rivals in June. At this time, members of the government had not been paid, and a possible strategy for peace, the so-called "prisoners' document was rejected. This had been drawn up by Palestinians in prison in Israel, and stated that if Israel withdrew to its 1967 borders, then Israel would become recognized as a legitimate entity. Though Islamic Jihad agreed to the terms of this plan, neither Hamas nor Fatah would sign it.

Hamas was founded in 1988, inspired by the wheelchair-bound Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Yassin, who was blown up by the Israelis on March 22, 2004. These are some of the terms of the Hamas charter:

The entire text of the Hamas Charter can be found HERE.

With a statement of intent such as this, it is inevitable that Hamas would fail in government. Hamas appeals to the lowest common denominator amongst Palestinians, an uncompromising hatred of Israel. The charter claims that ZIonist plans were laid out in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a late 19th century document from Russia, which has been conclusively proved to have been a forgery.

At the start of June, Hamas supporters vandalized the Fatah-controlled TV station, Palestinian Television, beating up employees and destroying equipment. Fatah is also against Israel, but under its main ally, Mahmoud Abbas, it is prepared to compromise with Israel and the West to attain peace. Hamas' ideology can only exist in a state of religious war, which it seeks to perpetuate.

When in June 25, members of Hamas tunneled under the Israeli border and kidnapped Israeli soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit, relations between the Palestinians and their neighbors deteriorated. A fortnight later, Hizbollah copied this action by taking two Israeli soldiers into Lebanon, and all Hell broke loose.

In the past, by providing so-called charities which fund money from Muslims to support their operations of social welfare and terrorism, Hamas has managed to keep Palestinians under the illusion that it can organize. In practice, since its election it has organized nothing other than the wholesale destruction of any sense of peace or security for the people who voted for it.

By kidnapping Gilad Shalit, Hamas was attempting a publicity coup, hoping it could have Palestinian terrorists released from Israeli jails and impress its supporters. Instead, 200 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed as the Israelis tried to get Gilad back. As a result, more than sixty Hamas Members of Parliament were arrested by Israeli forces and jailed. Eight of the Hamas cabinet were among those arrested. Currently 31 Hamas MPs are still in jail in Israel.

The soldier is still alive, apparently, and contacted his father last month. There have been ongoing negotiations behind the scenes to bring Corporal Shilat home.

The most senior of the jailed Hamas MPs, the Deputy Prime Minister, Nasser Shaer, was arrested on August 19. A resident of the West Bank, he was finally freed from jail, after a ruling from an Israeli military court on September 25.

On September 11, Hamas agreed to form a unity government with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. This decision was an act of desperation, knowing that it could not continue as a government in its present state.

Because its core ideology is a doctrine of hate and war - Jihad - the agreement with Fatah was not met with universal acceptance from Hamas activists, and recently, the two factions of Hamas and Fatah have been in a state of open warfare on the streets of Gaza and also in the West Bank.

Yesterday, after two days of fighting, in which 12 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 were injured, Ismail Haniyeh announced that he would not allow the Palestinians to succumb to civil war. He said at a cabinet meeting in Gaza City: "We are against internal clashes. We cannot allow a civil war to erupt, but this question is the responsibility of everyone."

His words came after the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, released a statement, which threatened to assassinate Hamas leaders, including Khaled Meshaal, its "supreme leader" who is currently in exile in Syria.

Other targets include Said Siam and Yussef al-Zahar, who are members of the Hamas cabinet.

The statement from Al-Aqsa said: "We will charge ourselves with executing this sentence so that these scoundrels serve as an example to all those who dare spill Palestinian blood."

According to Arab News, Hamas MP Mushir Al-Masri said in response: "We are speaking about a seditious current in the heart of Fatah that searches to sow discord and poison the atmosphere in order to realize personal aims."

Yesterday, 100 security forces with allegiances to Fatah blocked the main hihway of the Gaza Strip with vehicles and burning tires. In Nablus in the West Bank, two buses belonging to a Hamas funded school were torched, and the house of a Hamas official was shot at.

On Monday, October 2, Hamas closed its administrative offices as the violence spread. Its government employees have not been paid since March.

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, due to visit today as part of her Middle East tour, was verbally savaged yesterday by Ismail Haniyeh during the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He said: "It is clear that Condoleezza Rice is resorting to the old policy of divide and rule. We urge all the brother Arab countries not to bow to the American plans and aspirations of the American administration to carve up the region."

The fighting between Fatah and Hamas has led the Arab League to condemn the situation, states Reuters AlertNet today. Mohamed Subaih, the Arab League's assistant secretary-general for Palestinian affairs, said: "Let's leave the killing, aggression and destruction to Israel, because that's enough for the Palestinian people. This infighting is unprecedented Palestinian madness."

The 22-member Arab League has stressed that it is the duty of every Palestinian, including the president (Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah) to quell the unrest and divisions.

With 12 Palestinians now dead, today the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has suggested that he may dissolve the Hamas "government", according to the Bangladesh Daily Star. Speaking to a news conference hours before the arrival of Condoleezza Rice, he said: "My constitutional powers, granted by the basic law, will be used in time," a clear hint that he may cancel the Hamas government's mandate to control the West Bank and Gaza.

He said: "It is very necessary that we increase our efforts to end this crisis, and reach a solution towards forming a new government. I hope to reach this end as soon as possible because the people have been suffering for the past seven months and cannot endure further suffering."

The situation is becoming "interesting". Hamas is a terrorist organization. It always has been, and it always will be. One thing it is not is a credible political party, capable of government.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 4, 2006 5:47 PM

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Posted by: hutchrun at October 5, 2006 12:45 AM

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