'Enough is Enough!' - 9 June Dublin Demo

by reader Mon Jun 18, 2007 17:55

Seriously, though...

"The Palestinian quest for an independent state was on the verge of collapse last night..."

Which night was that?

How close were we to seeing that state?

by The singing sofa Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:07

Hamas overruns Gaza and executes rivals
Conal Urquhart in Ramallah and Ian Black in London

The Palestinian quest for an independent state was on the verge of collapse last night after Hamas militants took control of the Gaza Strip, banishing and executing their Fatah rivals and declaring Islamic rule on Israel's doorstep.

Fourteen years after the Oslo accords opened up the prospect of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, its putative territory was in danger of breaking into two warring entities as Hamas fighters routed Fatah gunmen at the end of a week of violence that has left almost 100 people, both gunmen and civilians, dead.

Last night Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and Fatah leader, declared a state of emergency and dissolved the three-month-old "national unity" government as he grasped for a strategy that could undermine the "coup d'etat".

But it was unclear how the president could impose his authority in Gaza - already being called "Hamastan" - where the green flag of the Islamic Resistance movement fluttered on many government buildings in the crowded coastal strip.

"We are telling our people that the past era has ended and will not return," Islam Shahawan, a Hamas spokesman, told the movement's radio station. "The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived."

Qais Abu Leila, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee, said there was determination to take action to stop the "insurrection". "This is a fight to preserve everything that we have built over the last 14 years," he said.

But in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, leaders appeared paralysed as they discussed how to stop the revolt. Some feared the turmoil could lead to the disintegration of the authority. Ominously, Fatah rounded up dozens of Hamas militants in the West Bank, where it is more dominant.

The Bush administration described the Gaza events as "a source of profound concern", accusing Hamas of committing terrorist acts. The EU suspended what few aid projects it still maintains in Gaza. The Arab League warned of a "disastrous outcome" to internecine fighting that has crackled on and off for more than six months.

The Hamas victory is widely seen as a boost for Iran and Syria, which have supported the militants, and a painful reversal for the pro-western regimes in Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which worry about Tehran's meddling in Iraq and Lebanon, as well as in the Palestinian Authority.

Jordan also fears that intra-Palestinian fighting could spread from the West Bank and across the river into the kingdom, where at least half the population is of Palestinian origin.

About 25 people were killed and 90 injured in yesterday's violence. Hospital staff said some of the dead had been shot in the head at close range.

Hamas gunmen took over the Palestinian Authority's preventative security and military intelligence headquarters after a three-day siege. Fighters loyal to Mr Abbas retain control of some buildings, but are believed to be short of ammunition.

Sources close to the Palestinian president said Israel had ignored repeated requests to allow deliveries of ammunition to PA forces, leaving them outgunned by Hamas who have relied on smuggled munitions.

Last night Hamas declared it had executed the top Fatah militant in Gaza, Samih al-Madhoun. Witnesses said the conquest of the headquarters of preventative security was followed by a series of executions. One told Associated Press he had seen Hamas men carrying out executions despite pleas from local residents. "They are executing them one by one," he said. "They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting."

The civil war is rooted in a power struggle between Hamas, which won elections last year, and Fatah, the historic core of the PLO. Hamas has refused to formally recognise Israel or renounce violence, triggering international sanctions. It denounces Fatah officials who have negotiated with Israel as renegades and "collaborators".

© 2007 The Irish Times

by Oriole Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:24

Problem was, that Fatah were corrupt and so Hamas won the election. Neither Hamas nor Fatah have stopped the rockets going into Israel since 2005. Neither have released that kidnapped BBC journalist. Why should we give them a blank cheque? There is always a trade-off i.e. security for money.

Yesterday 2 UN workers were killed in Gaza delivering food sent by us wicked 'imperialists'. The Israelis are bad enough, this conflict makes it worse.

The BBC site:

by Caitlin Ni Chonaill - Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign Thu Jun 14, 2007 02:04

What we are seeing in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank is the outworking of the classical imperialist tactic of 'divide and rule'. The United States government and its client state Israel have wished for and have promoted this conflict between Fatah and Hamas. By boycotting the democratically-elected government of Hamas and dealing (or rather pretending to deal) with Mahmoud Abbas, the US and Israel have promoted rivalry among the Palestinians. To their shame Britain and the European Union have supported this policy by endorsing the boycott against Hamas. The conflict serves to weaken the Palestinians still further, diverting the energy of the militants or destroying them so that Israel may have yet more time to advance its illegal settlement building on stolen Palestinian land. Palestinian on Palestinian violence also gives an opportunity for racists to sneer and claim that 'Arabs' can't rule themselves. Every colonialist since time immemorial has sought to make this claim about its subject people. Successive British governments certainly played this card in Ireland. Finally, those who claim that Hamas refuses to recognise Israel should ask themselves this question : Why should any Palestinian recognise a state which refuses to recognise her/his rights as a human being and which seeks to destroy her/his people? Ismael Haniyah, the Palestinian Prime Minister, has stated that Hamas will recognise Israel when Israel acknowledges and respects the human rights of the Palestinians.
Let's place the responsibility and the blame for the conflict in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank where it belongs - at the door of western imperialism and its client in the Middle East.

by PaddyK Thu Jun 14, 2007 01:33

I guess dem thick Pali terrorists are just too stupid to know what time school starts at.

by Babs Thu Jun 14, 2007 00:53

Rocket Hits Negev School - Half Hour Before Students Arrive
by Ezra HaLevi

A Kassam rocket slammed into a schoolyard Wednesday morning – thirty minutes before it would have been filled with children.

The high school, in a community near Sderot, has not been reinforced, and the building’s music room was damaged by the explosion. One woman was treated for shock.

A second rocket landed in a field near Kibbutz Nir Am, adjacent to Sderot.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

A Bedouin man was lightly wounded by shrapnel from a Kassam impact in a Shaar HaNegev factory Tuesday.

by Babs Thu Jun 14, 2007 00:16

And they want to run a state of their own ?

Throwing Doctors out of windows

Nice bulidings going up in flames - you thought they all lived in camps ?

by Oriole Wed Jun 13, 2007 18:08

"The BBC's Katya Adler in Ramallah says that in Gaza street corners, rooftops, even hospitals have become battlegrounds with most Gazans too scared to leave their homes.

"In one incident, a senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Fatah, was shot 41 times while in a hospital bed in the town of Beit Hanoun.

"A surgeon in Gaza's biggest hospital in Shifa, said that one man, injured in earlier fighting, was attacked even while he was being treated.

"While doctors were trying to save his life some of the masked people who are carrying his weapon came to the bed and he shot at him and then he died," Dr Jumaa Saqqa told the BBC."

by Mr Angry Wed Jun 13, 2007 14:35

n/t