The real tragedy of Gaza is that the struggle for power is not confined between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority but with every tin-pot Arafat wannabe with a rifle, a couple of henchmen and a rocket launcher - regardless of ideology. This story from the Jerusalem Post illustrates the total breakdown of civil authority:
Al-Azhar University in Gaza City has been shut down after gunmen belonging to the ruling Fatah party beat the institution's president and some of his aides. The attack took place on Wednesday when some 20 gunmen stormed the offices of university president Dr. Adnan al-Khaldi and forced him to flee after assaulting him. Eyewitnesses said the attackers also dragged an employee from the university's public relations department and dumped him outside the campus.
The attack was not the first of its kind on the university. Earlier this year another Fatah group stormed the campus and threatened to lynch the university president, who managed to escape unharmed. The attack coincided with a report published by the PA Interior Ministry showing that Fatah's armed wing, Aksa Martyrs Brigades, was largely responsible for the continued state of lawlessness and anarchy. Figures released by the ministry showed that Fatah gunmen were involved last August in 20 incidents of lawlessness, while Hamas came in second with only 18 violations. The number of Palestinians killed in domestic violence since the beginning of the year was higher than those killed by the IDF, the figures showed.
Denouncing that attack on al-Azhar University as a “crime against education,” the university administration decided to suspend studies until the PA security forces put an end to the anarchy. The university also appealed to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to interfere to halt the recurring attacks on its staff by members of his Fatah party. Sources in Gaza City said the latest attack was apparently in response to the university's decision to expel six Fatah-affiliated students for their involvement in previous cases of violence on campus.
The reality is that Abbas is a weak leader who never garnered more than a nominal base of support within the West Bank and Gaza; despite winning an interim election and in spite of the support Abbas has received by western leaders. His days as leader of the Palestinian Authority are as surely numbered as the hairs of my head. The real question we should be asking is who comes after Abbas, and will Palestinian Statehood become more hood than state.
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