July 6, 2007
IT'S NOT SURPRISING THE NEOCONS HAVE A SECULARIST DELUSION...:
Fatah on shaky ground in West Bank: Many are looking to the fractured Palestinian party to curb Hamas' reach, but some wonder whether it will be able to hang on to its stronghold (Ken Ellingwood, July 6, 2007, LA Times)
Routed in the Gaza Strip, the Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is fractured and adrift at a moment when it is viewed by the outside world as the best hope for blunting the militant Hamas movement in the West Bank.Once dominant in Palestinian affairs, the organization long led by the late Yasser Arafat is beset by a weak and aging leadership, internal schisms and a widespread reputation among Palestinians as corrupt, ineffectual and out of touch. Those troubles have some Palestinians wondering whether Fatah is more likely to lose the West Bank than to recapture the Gaza Strip from Hamas.
The crisis facing Fatah has deepened since Hamas crushed its forces in Gaza last month, leaving Fatah's authority limited to the West Bank. The United States, Israel and European allies have promised to bolster Abbas, a relative moderate, and his party as a way to isolate Hamas.
...but it's shocking that W seems to believe that Palestinians would freely choose a secular socialist party. You'd think the elections alone would have disabused him. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 6, 2007 10:11 AM
Why is it shocking? Obviously their choices aren't ideal, but most Palestinians are secular, and perhaps reluctant to live under Islamic theocrats.
Both are groups of Jew-hating thugs and I think it's ridiculous to support either of them, but Hamas is marginally worse because it's part of the worldwide Jihadist movement that links Al Qaeda and Hezbollah and Iran, etc.
Posted by: PapayaSF at July 6, 2007 12:24 PMAh, the deluded speak...
Posted by: oj at July 6, 2007 12:39 PMIf any people would be disabused of its theology, one would think it would be the Palestinians. Not only has Allah given them the short end of the stick (since the 20s, at least), but since 1967, they have been dumped on and exploited by every Arab and Muslim group around the world.
Are there more 'religious' Palestinians than secular ones? Who knows? But corruption takes many forms.
Posted by: ratbert at July 6, 2007 4:46 PMThe theology was Marxism. They're switching to Islam.
Posted by: oj at July 6, 2007 7:04 PMIf even 5% of them switch to Al Qaeda (a distinct possibility), the other 95% are in for some very bad times.
And of course, this is Al Qaeda (from Iran) that we're talking about. Funded partially by Saudi money (they made a big cash transfer to Gaza two weeks ago). Quite the multi-culturalists, no?
Posted by: ratbert at July 6, 2007 9:16 PMThat's 4.9% more than will.
Posted by: oj at July 6, 2007 10:24 PM