Lawless in Gaza

The Economist ^ | Jul 21st 2004 | Global Agenda

[SunkenCiv]

Violent protests against corruption and nepotism in Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority, and the threatened resignation of his prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, have forced Mr Arafat to back off from putting a relative in charge of Gaza’s security forces... Arafat is feeling the wrath of his own people, who have become increasingly frustrated at the corruption, nepotism and sheer uselessness of his crumbling regime.... Arafat has for months been resisting pressure from America, Egypt, the United Nations and other powers to merge and revamp the PA’s 12 overlapping, ineffectual and mutually hostile security forces, and to put them under the control of someone acceptable to international negotiators. After the weekend of chaos, the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, urged Mr Arafat to press on with the security reforms in order to end the “serious crisis” in Gaza... Hamas and other militant groups prepare to fill the power vacuum in the strip that will be created if Israel proceeds with its plan to pull out by the end of next year. On Friday, four French aid workers, Gaza’s police chief and another Palestinian official were abducted by gunmen and briefly held hostage by militant groups, as a protest against corruption in the PA... On Sunday, around 18 people were hurt as militants exchanged fire with the PA’s forces in Gaza. That night, al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a group linked to Mr Arafat’s own Fatah party, burned down a PA security base in protest at Musa Arafat’s appointment, while thousands of gunmen marched through the streets. On Tuesday, gunmen shot and injured Nabil Amr, a leading pro-reform campaigner, shortly after he had given a television interview criticising Mr Arafat.

[SunkenCiv]

George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent

[SunkenCiv]

related topic:

The intifadeh is over - just listen

[SunkenCiv]

I'd like to keep this ping informal. :')

[Slings and Arrows]

I'd like to keep this ping informal.

But I spent HOURS on my hair!

[ValerieUSA]

I wonder how many other non-Palestinians (besides the Arafat clan) are involved in the violence? Is this an "insurgency" of foreign thugs vying for power, or is this revolt against the PA a true uprising of the local people? Seems to me the "people's" way there so far has been to send their children out to throw rocks at the perceived enemies.

[SunkenCiv]

Arafat is 75. He has no close advisers he trusts. When criticized (I think I included that in the quote) he had the critic shot and wounded. The only tactics he's used to gain power are violence including mass-murder. There are no moderate Arab politicians, because after the Six Day War Arafat and his former rivals (all of whom live in exile or are dead) murdered all of them systematically over a period of years. Now, the succession crisis looms. The tools Arafat chose are the only ones to be used.

Israel is building its fence, pulling out of Gaza, but hedging bets on the so-called West Bank. Arafat and his mouthpiece PMs have all refused to use the PA armed forces to disarm their fellow terrorists, claiming that it would result in civil war. That's exactly what will result. When Israel removes itself from Gaza (the border with Gaza was less porous than that with the WB) Hamas, al-Aqsa, Islamic Jihad, and probably Iran's Hezbollah (among possibly others) will begin to fight it out as the street gangs that they are. The official US position should be that it's an internal matter. The unofficial position should be to sell ammo to all the warring factions.

[Salem]

"But I spent HOURS on my hair!"

LOL!!  

Well, I, for one, think you look real purty.

[Salem]

'Ping!'





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[SunkenCiv]

I couldn't think of any good cat-related compliments. :'D

[RockAgainsttheLeft04]

This clown's been trying to destroy the entire state of Israel (and for a while, the entire Jewish people, which he seems to have realized is not feasible) for most of his adult life.

Yes, Arafat is 75 now. So what? Why won't any U.S. administration (Democrat or Republican alike, since both are failing Israel) just stand up and call out Arafat for what he is: a murderer and a terrorist? He's not a legitimate world leader, and he has NO actual power to bargain or negotiate with either Israel or the U.S.

If he dies a natural death, we're not doing our jobs right.

[SunkenCiv]

I couldn't agree more. I'd love to see his death at the hands of one of the other terrorist groups, though. Of course, that would be followed by EU and UN resolutions blaming Israel for creating the conditions by which he perished.

[SunkenCiv]

see also:

Aksa leader: Intifada is in its death throes
Posted on 08/05/2004 4:19:06 PM PDT by Nachum