Palestinian Fighting Continues

Hamas and Fatah continue slugging it out in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestinian controlled area. More kidnappings occurred, and there's no sign of a letup. Indeed, it appears that Abbas and Haniyeh have less control over events than just a few weeks ago. The fighting is taking on a life of its own. At least 25 have been killed in the most recent spate of violence.

A Palestinian ministry building was torched in Nablus - the education ministry. It isn't like they need that building, is it?

Who suffers the most from the violence? The Gazan residents of course. Of course, those same Gazans voted overwhelmingly for Hamas to run affairs knowing full well that Hamas would never recognize Israel's right to exist and that they were essentially calling for a perpetual state of war. Little did they realize that the fighting Gazans would see would be between Hamas terrorists and Fatah terrorists who weren't willing to concede their hold on power (and have a different timeline on when Israel can or will be annihilated).

The MSNBC article would like you to believe that there had been some kind of progress (they characterize it as fitful) in creating a unity government.

The talks over a unity government have been at this stage for more than a year. They're no closer to a unity government today than they were a year ago. Indeed, the only thing that has changed is the body count as a result of Fatah-Hamas fighting.

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, which is a precondition to resuming talks with Israel and restoring aid from the US and the West. Haniyeh would not even engage in taqiya to restore the aid. He could lie his pants off and claim that they recognize Israel's right to exist all while knowing full well that he had no intentions to ever allow Israel's right to exist and the money would flow in.

He will not allow that to happen. That's quite telling. The desire - fueled by Islamic fundamentalism - is so filled with hatred of Israel that they would fight with other Palestinians over the timing of Israel's destruction. They're fighting over the identity of the Palestinians. The author of that piece thinks that the outcome of the fighting will be determined not by the Palestinians themselves but by the West (US) and Iran. I beg to differ. Even if the US and Iran weren't hoping for outcomes favorable to their own cause, the Palestinian thugs in Fatah and Hamas would still slug it out over who gets to control the future of Gaza and the West Bank.

The Palestinians are indeed fighting over their identity, but the Islamists (Hamas) are fueled by a religious hatred of the secular and the West - especially Israel. Fatah can only fall back on Palestinian nationalism to rally people to its cause. That isn't enough. Hamas shows the true face of what is in store for the Palestinians and the West if they were to prevail. Unending conflict, even fewer rights for Palestinians of all stripes - especially women. Fatah does as well - war with Israel until Palestinians prevail. Intifada.

With choices like that, there are no good outcomes - especially for the Palestinians.

UPDATE:
It's telling that Abbas is busy hobnobbing in Davos - hoping that the West throws him a life jacket. Abbas can only succeed if the West believes that Fatah has a chance, and yet that success fuels Hamas rage against Abbas and Fatah. He's perceived as a sell-out and a tool of the West against the Palestinians, which helps Hamas with its own claims to represent all the Palestinians.

Abbas saw the writing on the wall when he called for new elections last month. He can't beat Hamas and there's a stalemate over the unity government formation, so he hopes that Fatah could pull out a win at the polls. He hopes that if Western governments commit to an aid package if Fatah wins, that might be enough to convince the Palestinians that Fatah is the better alternative.

UPDATE:
Abbas is in the fight for the continued existence of Fatah, and knows that Hamas has the backing of Syria and Iran. He knows that the Islamists consider his moderate views (moderate in comparison to the intent of Haniyeh) is not tolerated. So, he issues a shout out against Syria and Iran.

UPDATE:
Hamas is blaming Mohammad Dahlan for the latest violence. Dahlan has a long bloody history, and Hamas is claiming that Dahlan is working with US security forces to put together special operations teams to go after Hamas in Gaza:

Hamas leaders on Sunday stepped up their rhetorical attacks on senior Fatah operative Muhammad Dahlan, holding him responsible for the latest cycle of violence between Fatah and Hamas.

Sources close to Dahlan, who headed the Palestinian Authority's Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip between 1994 and 2003, denied the charges and accused Hamas of waging an open war against Fatah and its top leaders.

The sources expressed deep concern for Dahlan's safety in the wake of the "smear campaign and incitement" waged by Hamas in recent weeks. Hamas has already accused Dahlan of being behind a botched assassination attempt against PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

On Sunday Hamas gunmen detonated an explosive charge outside the home of Salim Khalil, who is in charge of Dahlan's team of bodyguards, and destroyed the first floor completely.

Khalil is currently in Egypt. No one was hurt in the attack.

Hamas-run Web sites and spokesmen claimed in recent weeks that Dahlan had set up a special force in the Gaza Strip with the help of the US and Israel to target Hamas representatives.

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