Hamas on Saturday issued a warning to all powerful clans in the Gaza Strip to hand over their weapons or else they would be disarmed by force. Hamas also issued an ultimatum to Mumtaz Dughmush, the head of the notorious Dughmush clan, to release kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston within the next 24 hours.If Hamas manages to pull this off they will have accomplished more to improve the everyday quality of life for the average Palestinian than Fatah has ever done in its long sordid history and it kind of makes you wonder who the real patriots are.
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On Saturday, hundreds of Hamas militiamen attacked members of the pro-Fatah Astal clan in Khan Yunis. The clan had rejected an ultimatum by Hamas to surrender its weapons. At least two people were killed in the fighting. Four other clans in the southern Gaza Strip, Abu Taha, Masri, Abu Amra and Barbakh, were told that they must hand over all their weapons by Sunday morning. The clans have long been known for their involvement in the smuggling of weapons and drugs from Egypt.
Sources in the Gaza Strip said Hamas militiamen began rounding up scores of men suspected of involvement in drug trafficking and other criminal activities over the weekend. Most of the suspects were caught as they tried to flee to Israel through the Erez checkpoint and Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, the sources told The Jerusalem Post.
Deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh appointed a council of security officers to impose law and order in the Gaza Strip. The council is headed by Tawfik Jaber, a former Palestinian Authority security officer, who will report directly to Haniyeh. Hamas also decided to ban Palestinian gunmen from covering their faces with masks as part of its plan to restore law and order and prevent gangsters from roaming the streets.
Bayan Abu Nar, a top commander of Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, announced that his movement was determined to confiscate the weapons of all the large clans in the Gaza Strip. "Hamas will impose law and order in the Gaza Strip," he said. "Our people have long been suffering as a result of the crimes that were committed by the murderous Fatah gangs. These gangs are now gone for ever and they will never terrorize our people again."
Saturday, June 16, 2007
So just who are the Palestinian Patriots?
Apparently, Hamas hasn’t just been busy issuing threats to Fatah according to this Jerusalem Post report:
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2 comments:
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"it kind of makes you wonder who the real patriots are."
well... in between kidnapping the children of members of rival factions... that is.
i know, i know... i'm a culturally insensitive brute.
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Neo-con, I am outraged in the amount of money and energy that is spent investing in Fatah which as an organization has done absolutely nothing for the Palestinian people. The persecution of Hamas members by Fatah in the West Bank is crime against humanity, and yet, the international community believes it is preferable to Hamas who has at least a track record for providing services for providing education, healthcare, and other social services.
Hamas running the Gaza Strip possibly presents the Gazans with at least a hope of positive change. One of the reasons the Gaza Strip was important to Fatah was the border with Egypt as the smuggling industry created and nurtured by Fatah was its cash cow. The lost of control of the Gaza Strip represents a serious shortfall in liquidity for Fatah.
Fatah invested next to nothing in Gaza but saw its people as nothing more than a vic to be exploited. Would I wish to live in a Muslim theocracy? Absolutely not, but at the same time, I recognize that Hamas enjoys a great deal of popularity because of its history of social outreach. If I was a Palestinian and my choices boiled down to a criminal mafia type organization or an extremist religious organization, I too, would have voted Hamas – actually I would have probably got long out of dodge before I faced those kind of choices but if I couldn’t leave, Hamas would win my vote. Hamas electoral win was simply overwhelming. Not only did Hamas carry the entire Gaza Strip but a significant portion of the West Bank as well. Fatah’s refusal to share power or reform its mafia-type ways is the reason for this current very uncivil war. Bizarrely, Hamas also enjoys the support of the smaller splinter terrorist fractions for its consensus building tactics – unlike Fatah which makes consensus with no one but its own in a limited grudging kind of way.
Don’t fall into the trap of Fatah’s or the Bush Administration’s hype. Hamas doesn’t even come close to the barbarity Fatah has been practicing. Kidnapping and executing one’s rival’s wives or children is an art-form Fatah first perfected. We are simply watching karma in action. Hamas running the Gaza Strip represents very little threat to Israel. I would rather deal with a wolf than a wolf in sheep’s clothing and Israel will find it much easier to deal with Hamas as any potential threats emerge under the current de facto arrangement. The Mid-East is the ultimate bad neighborhood but Fatah is nothing more than a mafia-type organization disguised as a national liberation organization.
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