“The two-state solution has finally worked”
Khaled Abu Toameh has an in depth accounting on what has taken place in Gaza over the last few days. Gaza is now controlled by the Hamas while the WB remains under the control of Fatah. It’s not surprising that the two areas are divided along those lines, where clan affiliations and tribal blood links are of more importance than any sense of nationalism, real or imagined.
Toameh writes:
“A sign of Fatah’s predicament in the Gaza Strip was illustrated late Monday night when its leaders announced a unilateral cease-fire, only to be snubbed by Hamas. Fatah leaders also made urgent appeals to a number of Arab governments to interfere to stop the fighting, but their calls have fallen on deaf ears. The Egyptians, Saudis and Jordanians – who have, until now, been making huge efforts to end the anarchy in the Palestinian areas – are all fed up with the Palestinians.
Unless the fighting stops in the next day or two, the entire Gaza Strip is likely to fall into the hands of Hamas. All Fatah can do now is vent its anger at the remaining handful of Hamas representatives in the West Bank. The majority of the Hamas leaders in the West Bank are in Israeli jails and the Islamic movement does not have a strong military presence there. “
The writing is literally on the wall. I have always maintained that the Palestinians are in need of their own Altelena, in order to bring all the competing militias under one flag and rule of law. If it takes a messy civil war to do that, then the current violence might have a silver lining after all.
I am neither promoting nor supporting the violence, just recognizing the need for the Palestinians to become a complete united entity. Something thus far, they have proved to themselves to be completely incapable of becoming. Israel can only now watch from the sidelines and hope that Hamas doesn’t succeed in vanquishing Fatah. *L* KGS
