While the world waits breathlessly for any innocent civilian collateral death by Israel’s surgical strikes, the media world turns an almost complete blind eye to what is happening within the Gaza Strip. Hamas’ has quietly launched it’s 2nd civil war against the Palestinian Authority.
Amid the Israeli defense, Hamas has murdered/executioned, tortured Fatah supporters and put dozens under house arrests.
The Hamas government has placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest out of fear that they might exploit the current IDF operation to regain control of the Gaza Strip
~~~Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken.
Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas targets.
“Hamas is very nervous, because they feel that their end is nearing,” a senior Fatah official said. “They have been waging a brutal campaign against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip.”
Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had “executed” more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations.
“We will kill them all if they try to help Israel bring down our government,” the official said. “We will hang Mahmoud Abbas and [former Fatah security chief] Muhammad Dahlan in the public square if they try to enter the Gaza Strip aboard Israeli tanks.”
The Hamas official said that his security forces had launched a massive “preemptive” campaign aimed at thwarting Fatah’s attempts to “spread anarchy and chaos.” He confirmed that many Fatah operatives had been shot in the legs over the past few days by Hamas “to make sure that they don’t help Israel.”
I’d say this was most definitely against “international law” for “humane warfare”…. a phrase that seems oxymoronic at best. Where’s the outrage by the international community?
The press fails to point out Hamas atrocities, deliberately inflicted against citizens it considers political enemies, and instead gives press coverage to Hamas parading the bodies of Nizar Rayan, his four wives and 10 of his children thru the Gazan streets.
Rayan is one of Hamas’ five top decision makers and mentor of suicide bombers. One of his proteges included his own son, whom he sent on a Gazan mission to kill two Israeli settlers back in Oct 2001. Rayan is no fool. He recognizes that dead Palestinians make for good press, and his irreverence for his own family’s lives provides him with obedient victims to use for media fodder.
Rayan deliberately ignored the Israel advance warnings to go underground with his family. His home, suspected of being a munitions storage facility, was on the list of targets. There seems little excuse for his family’s deaths, as the army admitted there was a tunnel under his home, used as an escape route.
As I pointed out in my post yesterday on the proportionality principle, the Hamas control of Gaza is illegitimate…. obtained by violence in a 2007 coup. Per agreements, the only recognized representative of Palestine is the Palestine Authority. Hamas may have a majority of seats because of their dedication to welfare social programs… but they do not own the entire PA.
In fact, even Newsweek’s Daniel Klaidman – in a piece today coauthored by Dan Ephron, Christopher Dickey and (oddly enuf) Michael Hirsh – points out that the biggest stumbling block to the two-state solution for peace is Hamas itself. From their article, A Plan of Attack for Peace:
At the moment, the greatest impediment to peace is Hamas, the terrorist group that won power in Gaza through elections in 2006. The rise of a rejectionist “Hamastan” in Gaza has left Palestinians divided between Abbas’s more moderate Fatah government and radical Hamas leaders who encourage violence and believe Israel itself should not exist. Hamas rose by exploiting the misery and grievances of the Palestinians. The challenge for Palestinians and Israelis who desire peace is to make Hamas irrelevant in the eyes of its supporters by offering them something more tangible than revenge.
While an anti-Israel world is quick to believe that Israel is attempting to occupy and hold Gaza in violation of the roadmap to peace, nothing could be further from the truth. Israel has made it clear publicly they have no intentions to reoccupy Gaza.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni says there are no plans to occupy Gaza, after two days of airstrikes in the Palestinian territory and the callup of 6,500 Israeli reserve soldiers.
Speaking Sunday on “Meet the Press,” Livni says the Israeli assault came because Gaza’s Hamas rulers were smuggling weapons and building up “a small army.”
But, she said, “Our goal is not to reoccupy” the Gaza Strip.
Fact is, Abbas had warned Hamas to cease the attacks on Israel…… something Hamas chose to ignore. And now, with the PA “standing by” to reassume control, some Palestinians celebrating Israeli’s assault against the terror group, and Hamas’ death threats against the PA leadership, there are some unlikely allies with Israel that dare not speak out too loudly.
In the meantime, the UN Security Council – that int’l body of anti-Israel fools – found themselves thwarted by the US when attempting to issue a statement demanding immediate ceasefire. Or, as the front page “must read” tongue in cheek subtitle from Lucianne’s site says:
Someone found some stones over at the UN.
From the Jerusalem Post article linked:
US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Alejandro Wolff said the US saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week’s council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time “would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council.”
~~~Arab nations demanded that the council adopt a presidential statement calling for an immediate cease-fire following Israel’s launch of a ground offensive in Gaza earlier Saturday, a view echoed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
~~~Before the meeting, Ban telephoned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and said he was disappointed that Israel launched a ground offensive and “alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering” of Palestinian civilians, the UN spokesman’s office said in a statement.
Welll someone better start bringing Secy-Gen up to speed on the “suffering” of Palestinians at the hands of the thugs who keep peace from coming to fruition… right along with Iran, who keeps supplying Hamas with bigger and better weaponry.
Shall I repeat the words of Hamas as they declared civil war?
“We will kill them all if they try to help Israel bring down our government,” the official said. “We will hang Mahmoud Abbas and [former Fatah security chief] Muhammad Dahlan in the public square if they try to enter the Gaza Strip aboard Israeli tanks.”
…. “bring down *our* government”?? The Palestinian Authority and Abbas *is* Gaza’s legitimate representative of governance. Not Hamas.
It is time the UN blowhards and the history deficient biased media woke up to reality, and started advertising this conflict for what it really is… a tacit group effort between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to overthrow a bunch of thugs who will never negotiate for peace and shared territory.
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.
Greetings:
Sounds like it may be time for the Israelis to review the Viet Nam War’s Phoenix Program.
Sounds like Hamas is way ahead of them in that aspect, 11B40…
How can these Arabs calls themselves “Palestinians” since there is no Palestine country? What a bunch of crackpots!
How can the UN and the world think that Hamas could be ready for peace when they are killing their own brothers? UN and the leftist world are just another bunch of crackpots like the so-called “Palestinians”.
Hamas must be destroyed for the sake and peace of Israelis, “Palestinians” and the whole wide world. People who want to stop this war are pro-terrorists and anti-Semites. Let’s pray that this war will end only when the last terrorist of Hamas will be dead. This is my wish for 2009.
“IF WE’RE GOING DOWN THAN WE’RE TAKING YOU WITH US” or “IF WE CAN’T HAVE IT, NEITHER CAN YOU/”
Which is actually a pretty shrewd strategy, since if after Hamas is taken out there’s no “good” terrorist organization to hand power too, then the Leftist Israeli “leaders” will have failed in their chief objective. Pretty clever, …for a bunch of rats.
These poor hamas victims are sounding more and more like oppressors.
What gives?
And don’t forget, the root cause of the terror is all the “oppression.” Just see for yourselves how the Paleostinianz of Gaza suffer…
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/195683.php
NOT!
Col. Mc Inerney was interviewed this morning. His opinion of the UN and neighboring Arabs is that they are doing a “kabuki dance” really wanting Israel to cleanse Gaza but can’t publicly say so. I believe some anti-Israel all the timers genuinely want Israel out of there because they don’t care about peace and safety for Israel, yet, they’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see Hamas for what they are. A kabuki dance to a different tune.
This is like rooting for Iraq or Iran during their 80s war. The more dead on both sides the better the prospects for peace. It is a sad commentary, but the reality is even uglier there.