It's Really Hamas versus Fatah

JINSA Report #948
17 December 09

While the Europeans were busy recasting Jerusalem in the image of Cold War Berlin complete with a wall and two governments-one free and one not-the Palestinians were busy revealing what their presumed state would look like. Follow the threads.

In June, Fatah reaffirmed "the right of armed resistance" (terrorism) in "Palestine." Last month, Abu Mazen said he would not run in the planned January election. This week, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) "indefinitely" extended his term and that of the Palestinian parliament, which has not met since 2007. To celebrate, Abu Mazen announced, "We will renew negotiations [with Israel only] if the settlements are completely halted and the 1967 borders recognized as the borders of the Palestinian state."

That was just to throw you off the trail. Israel is not his problem; Hamas is his problem and it is getting bigger. And the United States is heavily invested in the run up to a potential Palestinian civil war.

Hamas described the extension of Abu Mazen's term a "coup against the Palestinian constitution." Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, "This is an illegal decision and a political bribe to cover up for the fact that Abbas' term in office had expired a long time ago." Hamas celebrated its 20th anniversary with huge demonstrations and an announcement that it will "liberate all of Palestine." Starting with the West Bank.

According to the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, the Hamas websites contain a 61-page document entitled, "Exclusive and Unique Research: The Detention Philosophy of the Abbas-Dayton Security Apparatuses and Methods of Dealing with Them," authored by people identifying themselves as "Hamas prisoners in Israel."

The phrase "Abbas-Dayton security apparatuses" should worry Americans. The United States and Israel have been touting the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces trained by American Lieutenant General Keith Dayton as key to a future peace between Israel and "the Palestinians." Five battalions have been trained and a sixth will start in January, including 2,500 officers trained since 2008-all with American tax dollars. The Obama Administration is planning to finish off ten PA battalions and has allocated another $100 million for the coming year.

The PA security forces have restored a semblance of law and order to the West Bank, permitting increased economic activity and growth, and the removal of dozens of Israeli "checkpoints." But who are "the Palestinians"? To whom do those forces belong-and to whom will they be loyal under and what circumstances? (Questions with which JINSA readers are familiar.)

(Read full report)
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