As I do my last posting until next week, I offer this summary of events in Gaza:
Hamas has taken the last Fatah stronghold.
And finally, finally, it seems that Abbas has ordered his forces to hit Hamas hard. This is the incredible thing: Until now Abbas did not do this. And so late yesterday there were calls from within Fatah for his resignation. Strengthen him with weapons, went the call – but it was never weapons that Abbas lacked. Abbas reportedly is on the verge of officially pulling out of the unity government, as well.
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There are assessments from various quarters that a major action into Gaza is essential, perhaps with force remaining for years. Whether those in charge will have the stomach for this is doubtful – we’ll see. Barak said he’s the man to lead if the country is at war. Well, we are at war, and he’s likely to be minister of defense in short order. If there is no major action there will be relentless attacks on us from Gaza.
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“We told you so” is not necessarily a constructive comment in a crisis. And yet it’s hard not to say this now. It’s painful to watch the unfolding of something that was predicted by those who of us who opposed the pullout from Gaza almost two years ago, and who opposed attempts to “strengthen” Abbas rather than taking direct action. Painful, indeed.
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I will comment here on one other thing that – though likely transitory – has amazed me: The situation has been sufficiently bad in Palestinian areas so that there are Palestinians who are actually telling the truth, saying it wasn’t so bad with the Israelis. Abbas himself said it – that occupation is not as bad as this fighting. Others have called for a reinstatement of control by Israel because that was much better, or have said to journalists that the Israelis were never cruel the way the people of Hamas are.
See this story about a Palestinian wounded by one of his own, and then brought into Israel and treated by Israelis:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/10/wirq310.xml
"’Palestinians shoot me and Jews treat me,’ he laughs bitterly. ‘It was supposed to be different.’
“‘The Jews are like honey, like flowers,’ he says theatrically. ‘They wash me, clean me, and change my gown every day. Even in my home, my own family wouldn’t change me every day.’"
"’Here, everything is beseder,’ he adds, using the Hebrew word for ‘okay’".
And this from a British paper.
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It’s refreshing to see this truth in print, no matter how transitory it may be. But the flip side is a warning loud and clear of what we’re dealing with in facing Hamas: they are utterly ruthless. As JINSA pointed out – they have been ready to murder their brothers in order to further their goal of destroying Israel. Let us, please!, be well aware now.
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Undoubtedly, there will be major changes by the time I am able to post again…
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https://41k.82b.myftpupload.com/current-postings/2007/6/14/june-14-2007-bad-to-worse.html
