Gaza universities in flames

[arcos]

Gaza universities in flames

GAZA CITY–Fighting between Palestinians raged across the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing at least 17 people, and crippling a days-old ceasefire, as gunmen set off fires that damaged two universities loyal to rival armed factions and a radio station.

Egyptian officials sought to broker a fresh truce between the ruling Hamas and rival Fatah and, by day's end, the sides announced a tentative deal to restore the ceasefire reached Tuesday. At best, it seemed fragile, as heavily armed men still stalked the streets.

Intense shooting took place as Hamas gunmen attacked bases used by security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads Fatah. They also torched Voice of Labour, a radio station linked to Fatah in the northern town of Jabeliah, unnamed witnesses told Maan News Agency.

Hamas launched mortars and crude Kassam rockets at a main base for security forces in Gaza City and at the Abbas compound nearby. Abbas was not there but at the authority's Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank.

<snip>

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/177907

[pampango]

1. Every day a new cease fire, then more fighting within hours.

On a per capita basis 17 dead in Gaza is like 340 dead in Iraq. It may be more dangerous to live in Gaza than in Iraq. At least in Gaza most of the fighting is between armed factions and civilians are "collateral damage" rather than the targets of car bombs or death squads.

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. US seeks 86 million dollars in military aid to Fatah

link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070112/pl_afp/mideastpalestinian

"WASHINGTON (AFP) - The administration of President George W. Bush has asked Congress to authorize 86 million dollars in military aid to boost security forces loyal to moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, a senior US official said".

snip:"Last month, Egypt, with Israel's consent, sent a large quantity of automatic weapons and ammunition to Abbas loyalist forces and Washington has been pressing the Jewish state to allow a Jordan-based Palestinian militia linked to Fatah deploy in the Gaza Strip, a Hamas stronghold.

Rice has been seeking ways to strengthen Abbas and his secular Fatah party in an increasingly violent power struggle with the radical Islamic movement Hamas."

link to full article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070112/pl_afp/mideastpalestinian

[pelsar]

3. good or bad?

will more guns just make it worse?...will abbas be seen as a "US stooge?"

[Douglas Carpenter]

5. Abbas is already seen as a U.S. stooge....even Fatah supporters

reluctantly grumble that. It would be hard for them not to with all the money the U.S. government gave to help Fatah in the Jan 2006 elections.

From my point of view the problem goes back much farther. The U.S. and Israel have been demanding that Fatah take on Hamas and dismantle them since the mid 90's. This is no secret. Everybody knew that would mean a Palestinian civil war. When Fatah wanted to try to bring Hamas into the political process, the U.S. and Israel found that completely unacceptable and demanded confrontation instead. When Hamas has tried to establish a political dialog with the U.S. and Israel...these efforts were dismissed with contempt.

Now we are seeing the results.


"U.S. Funds Enter Fray In Palestinian Elections
Bush Administration Uses USAID as Invisible Conduit"

link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/21/AR2006012101431.html

"By Scott Wilson and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, January 22, 2006; Page A01

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The Bush administration is spending foreign aid money to increase the popularity of the Palestinian Authority on the eve of crucial elections in which the governing party faces a serious challenge from the radical Islamic group Hamas.

The approximately $2 million program is being led by a division of the U.S. Agency for International Development. But no U.S. government logos appear with the projects or events being undertaken as part of the campaign, which bears no evidence of U.S. involvement and does not fall within the definitions of traditional development work."

link to full article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/21/AR2006012101431.html

[pelsar]

7. I"m not expert at arab politics...

and its a "murkier world" than any soap i've ever seen....but perhaps in the 90's when hamas was weak was the time to "take them on"....though i doubt anything would have come from that as they obviously fillled a need that fatah couldnt....something else would have risen in their place.

[pampango]

6. There is a thread in the IP forum about why there is no outcry

over Arab on Arab violence. Perhaps the rest of the world would follow suit if Arabs took the lead in expressing outrage over this.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

4. At least the Israelis aren't doing it.

Where is the outrage in the Arab world over THIS violence?

I don't support the Israelis, but the Arab nations did use the Palestinians as a tool against Israel. Now they don't need them anymore.

[pelsar]

8. there is no outcry...

within the arab world as its a proxy war....the palestinians are still being used: iran/syrian/egypt/saudi arabian/sunni -shiite....hizballa all have their hands in it. So they're not going to "shout"..they want their side to win.

as far as the western world and their human rights groups......I guess you'll have to ask them, where they "disappeared to" (i thinks its something to do about "expecting less" from the palestinians...as opposed to expecting "more" from the israelis, a fancy way of saying: double standard)

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. I would never accuse the Arab world of caring that much about the Palestinians

Palestinians would never accuse the Arab world of caring that much about the Palestinians.

Far from it.

But trust me there are a lot of hands in what's going on, yes Egypt and Jordan; no doubt about its; Iran and Syria; no doubt about. And the U.S. and Israel; no doubt about it.

which is the tale and which is the dog? that I don't know.

But there is no doubt and it is no secret that the U.S. and Israel have been pushing Fatah for more than 10 years to dismantle Hamas rather than to try to bring them into the political process and open a dialog; a concept soundly rejected by the U.S. and Israel. I find it implausible that they did not know what the results would be.

If I drank, I would get drunk tonight and try to forget.

[Scurrilous]

10. Jordanian FM expresses concern of Gaza bloodshed

"Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib met with an envoy of Israeli Arab MKs and said to them, "we are very concerned and pained by the bloodshed in Gaza."

Al Khatib met with United Arab List-Ta'al party members including Ahmad Tibi, Talab el-Sana, Ibrahim Sarsur and Abas Zkoor in Amman."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3360359,00.html


This took me less than 30 seconds to find.