July 18, 2004
TURNING THE FURY INWARDS:
Militants Sack, Burn Palestinian Offices (LARA SUKHTIAN, 7/18/04, Associated Press)
Militants sacked and burned Palestinian government offices Sunday, the latest sign of growing anger over Yasser Arafat's decision to reach into his old guard and choose a loyalist relative as his new security chief.A confrontation was brewing between Arafat — reluctant to yield significant power — and Palestinian militants, including some of Arafat's own officers. They are demanding deep reforms and new faces, Palestinian analysts said.
The divide between the two sides centered on the appointment of Moussa Arafat, Arafat's cousin, as the new head of Palestinian security. Many Palestinians rejected him as a symbol of corruption and cronyism, propelling long-held dissatisfaction into the open.
Dozens of masked gunmen marched through the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza after sundown Sunday, chanting, "No to Moussa Arafat, yes to reform."
Give them statehood and Israel isn't the enemy anymore. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 18, 2004 4:58 PM
The fight is beginning for control of the new Palestinian state.
Posted by: jd watson at July 18, 2004 9:48 PMAs long as Arafat is around, no "progress" (however that word be defined---let's call it "change") can be possible.
Even with Arafat gone, there's absolutely no guarantee that a leader who has the best interests of Palestinians at heart will fill the vacuum. (Though even mentioning "best interests" in this context is a non sequitur: which Arab government currently in existence can be said to have the "best interests" of its citizens at heart?)
The current, and for some time, definition of "the best interests of the Palestinian people" is to try to erase Israel (or at least terrorize and kill her citizens and weaken her economy and erode her diplomatic status to the max) and to have Palestinians continue to suffer and "be oppressed" as a result of the effort, the latter being an intrinsic part of the overall strategy. Palestinian suffering is (and always has been) a necessary condition for the battle against the Zionist entity. As such, it makes no sense to discard this ever-so-effective (and increasingly so with the years) tactic. Especially when such suffering is automatically coupled with the purpose and goal that has yet to be repudiated (and which logically cannot be repudiated): the dissolution of the Jewish State.
Give them a state? They won't accept it. They'll have to accept it? Not over their dead bodies. And in the meantime, the march to the Iranian bomb continues unabated.
No, there will be no peace until the Palestinians get what they want. And what do they want?...
They are counting on the west's utter exasperation with this conflict to ultimately wedge Israel off the map, and they've been increasingly successful with this strategy.
So-what if it takes another 10, 20, 50 years?
They're thinking Israel can eventually be annihilated, but they, though they may suffer, cannot be destroyed. It can't happen; it can't be allowed to happen. But even if they are destroyed, they realize that their destruction means Israel's as well. (A win-win situation, Palestinian style). And so far, they've been proven prescient. So far.
Thinking like a westerner does have its advantages. In this case, however, there is no agreement about the word "advantage" (as is the case with so many words). In this case, all bets are off.
When the advanced industrialized nations no longer depend on the Middle East for oil, Israel will be free to do whatever she likes to Palestine.
That time is less than fifty years in the future.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at July 19, 2004 3:07 AM