Jerusalem Bus Bombing May Be Another Palestinian Attempt to Ramp Up Tensions

Jonathan S. Tobin
Commentary/Contentions
23 March '11

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/03/23/jerusalem-bus-bombing-may-be-another-palestinian-attempt-to-ramp-up-tensions/

As of this moment we don’t know who set off a bomb next to a bus in central Jerusalem this afternoon (morning U.S.). Fortunately, no one was killed in the explosion that wounded over 30 at a bus stop in front of the Biyanei Ha’uma, the national convention center. But it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the blood spilled today is a result of the maneuvering between Hamas and its Fatah rivals that control the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

The Palestinian leadership and the terror groups at its disposal can’t be happy over the fact that events in Egypt, Libya, and all around the Middle East have distracted the world from the issue that was supposedly at the center of all strife in the region: the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. In recent weeks, it has become painfully obvious that the grievances of the Palestinians were not the source of all strife. Indeed, despite the occasional and seemingly obligatory anti-Semitic comments heard in countries in revolt, the supposedly all-consuming concern about the Palestinians has been completely absent in the Arab world. Since neither Fatah nor Hamas want any part of a genuine democracy movement in their own fiefdoms it is to be expected that they will continue to try to distract their people from wondering about the way they are governed and to get them back focusing on hatred for Israel and Jews.

Hamas’s mortar fire at southern Israel this past weekend seemed to be part of this pattern, since it was bound to draw return fire. It may be that today’s bombing is also another Palestinian attempt to ramp up tensions and get the attention of the Obama administration and the rest of the West, even though the PA still won’t negotiate directly with Israel. The only thing that is certain about any of this is that such efforts will result in more violence and bloodshed on both sides and that actual peace talks are the last thing either Hamas or Fatah desire.

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