When the situation becomes too unstable in Gaza I have the option of leaving here, I can leave and never come back. I can run from this world of discomfort, of poverty and lack of security. But these are not the things I pine for, comfort, riches, security. I will continue to speak out against injustice and be the voice of the voiceless because I long to live for the other, rather than for my-self. It takes a re-shaping of the habits of my mind and heart to reach even partially this way of being. That is why I am here.
Today fear fills the hearts of Gaza’s people, with the recent string of events Gaza’s future is as uncertain as ever. There is a fear that they may one day return from their perpetual search for charity and donation empty handed (80% of Gazans are receiving international food aid); a fear of waking to another day of hopelessness (70% of Gazans are either unemployed or largely unpaid government employees); a fear that the economic disaster they are experiencing today may overcome their lives (60% of the population live under the poverty level of $2 per day); a fear is that this economic crisis will divide the entire population in inter-factional feuding and result in a lawless chaos as factions and political parties vie for the little power that does exist in Gaza.
All this could be prevented, but it takes a perspective of the conflict that includes a memory that goes back further than just a couple years, one must go back to the start. Prior to 1948 and the creation of the state of Israel the Gaza Strip did not exist. On that fateful day nearly 60 years ago a majority of the ancestors of Palestinians living/imprisoned in the Gaza Strip today, walked the dusty paths to this plot of land. On that day their future was determined to be confined in this space, which only then was renamed, the Gaza Strip, a prison with borders to keep in an unwanted people. 200,000 refugees were added to the 70,000 living in Gaza City and its surrounding cities at the time. Life began in UN tents and over the course of these 60 years those rows of tents have become overcrowded and inhumane refugee camps, where families listen to their neighbors’ conversations and private interactions, where sickness spreads with ease, where children play in sewage that runs down narrow streets.
I have come to find that the injustice of this world exists to maintain the status quo of the way of life, the ease of life of the upper class, to keep comfortable those already living in comfort, to keep wealthy those living with wealth, to keep secure those living in security.
The root of what is considered a social or political sickness is a matter of interpretation. My perspective as either oppressor or oppressed, whether I am aware of it or not, will determine and limit how I see the world around me, unless I am shaken awake to the reality of the other. As they say, “One person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter.”
The great women and men of history are those that have been able to step out of their perch of comfort and identify with the one that is colonized, the one who is deprived of human rights, the one that is abused, the one who is forgotten by the mighty of the world. From a place of comfort it is easy to consider the oppressed a victim of her own lack of perseverance, his inactivity or her idleness. From the eyes of the individualist where one is always considered able to “make one’s self”, the fault lies with the victim. It takes an awaking, a metamorphosis to be able to place oneself in the shoes of the other, and there staring at death, to gain new eyes that condemn one’s own inactivity and idleness in the face of the oppression that one’s very existence executes on the oppressed. Some of the worst evils we commit are the ones we are unaware of.
My heart burns for these, the oppressed.
Recently I have been challenged and consoled by a prayer of St Francis’ of Assisi. Francis was a man who chose to leave behind the splendor of a bourgeois life to serve and live among the poor, no doubt he was familiar with the suffering of the exploited. These words are powerful in a world that is more prone to raping, economically, politically, sexually, than to giving, in a world more prone to hungering for power and money no matter what the means, than to serving the one that is anything but powerful, the voiceless.
“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is sadness, joy;
Where there is darkness, light;
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
Not so much to be understood, as to understand;
Not so much to be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.”
Who is the powerless, the voiceless, the oppressed in your world?
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
New York Times Sound and Images
Steven Erlanger from the New York Times gives this insightful audio report over the screening of images in life in Gaza after the Hamas military take over.
Welcome to the Gaza Zoo
The Jerusalem Post stated that the Israeli army is considering parachuting food into Gaza since they will not interact with Hamas to coordinate border crossing coordination. If borders stay closed as this suggests, it means that food may fall from the sky but nothing will exit from Gaza, no fruit, vegetables, clothes, no furniture, no nothing, trade with the outside world would come to an end.
This prospect would mean a slow death for Palestinians. Today Gazans are becoming ever more like animals in a zoo, their cage remains closed, but enough food and water is provided to keep them alive and the many commentators, journalists and analysts coming visiting constantly. The UN has explained that if the main economic border crossing is not opened within 2-4 weeks a humanitarian crisis will break out in Gaza. I believe Israel will be forced to open the border somehow, because like animals in a zoo, you can’t let them starve.
In the past number of days, one of the most common headlines related to Gaza was something along the lines of a “desecrated church,” when in reality it was a case concerning the looting of a Christian school.
A friend of mine living near the school, himself a Fatah security member told me that members of the Preventative Security Force would often station themselves on the roof of the school building during attacks on their headquarters just behind the school. This was the case last week as well, as Hamas forces carried out an attack on the building from three directions.
Like many buildings that were used as strongholds the doors were blown open with an RPG to secure no resistance coming from inside it. Succeeding the attack the building was then vandalized, crosses were broken and much was stolen. It is highly unlikely that Hamas carried out this vandalism; they were after all fighting a war.
Within days Hamas had identified some of the thieves and returned six stolen computers. Gaza’s Catholic priest, Emanuel Mussalam was interviewed on Hamas radio yesterday calling for the man to be put on trial who had ordered the forced entry into the school.
This prospect would mean a slow death for Palestinians. Today Gazans are becoming ever more like animals in a zoo, their cage remains closed, but enough food and water is provided to keep them alive and the many commentators, journalists and analysts coming visiting constantly. The UN has explained that if the main economic border crossing is not opened within 2-4 weeks a humanitarian crisis will break out in Gaza. I believe Israel will be forced to open the border somehow, because like animals in a zoo, you can’t let them starve.
In the past number of days, one of the most common headlines related to Gaza was something along the lines of a “desecrated church,” when in reality it was a case concerning the looting of a Christian school.
A friend of mine living near the school, himself a Fatah security member told me that members of the Preventative Security Force would often station themselves on the roof of the school building during attacks on their headquarters just behind the school. This was the case last week as well, as Hamas forces carried out an attack on the building from three directions.
Like many buildings that were used as strongholds the doors were blown open with an RPG to secure no resistance coming from inside it. Succeeding the attack the building was then vandalized, crosses were broken and much was stolen. It is highly unlikely that Hamas carried out this vandalism; they were after all fighting a war.
Within days Hamas had identified some of the thieves and returned six stolen computers. Gaza’s Catholic priest, Emanuel Mussalam was interviewed on Hamas radio yesterday calling for the man to be put on trial who had ordered the forced entry into the school.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Why this Coup D'etat?
Technically what took place in Gaza last week cannot be considered a coup, and yet practically it very much took the shape of a bloody coup d’etat.
Why is it that an elected government is required to carry out a coup?
After some days of reflection and hearing many, many accounts of what took place last week, I stick to my early conclusion that the Hamas routing of Fatah security forces in Gaza was politically warranted. But I don’t believe that the means justified the ends.
Sadly, the blood that was shed was the only option the opposition and the international community that backed it, left the democratically elected Hamas leadership to take on the role the people had chosen for it. Hamas’ takeover of Gaza’s rival security forces took on the form of a coup because they were not given rightful control of government institutions after winning the elections. This coup may have been the only option left for Hamas to attempt to earn some form of legitimacy and end the endless inter-factional fighting.
The vast majority of Gazans are living a much safer reality today than they were when two parties vied for authority over Gaza’s security forces. Yet, a minority still suffers, Fatah members fear Hamas searches of their homes, mother’s fear that their sons, who were employed by the former security forces, will be rounded up and punished. The same certainly filled the hearts of Hamas members and their families in the past; now the tables have turned. The reality is that in this society checks and balances are few and far between, largely relying on a familial network of who knows who.
While visiting Ireland yesterday, Jimmy Carter had this to say,
“This effort to divide Palestinians into two peoples now is a step in the wrong direction, all efforts of the international community should be to reconcile the two, but there's no effort from the outside to bring the two together."
"The United States and Israel decided to punish all the people in Palestine and did everything they could to deter a compromise between Hamas and Fatah."
Hamas was given few options and now has played into this strategy of division. Despite positive reports of last week’s events by a human rights group, Hamas ought to be held responsible for some of the brutal actions perpetrated. The bluff of the international community ought to be called; they fabricated this division and now seek to perpetuate it. Today, Abu Mazen accused Mishal of his attempted assassination, by airing a video recording that he claims proves his statements. Hamas for its part accused Dahlan, Abu Mazen’s National Security Advisor, of poisoning former president Yaser Arafat and attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Haniyeh.
In the course of this political power struggle, it is the common people that suffer.
Many rival media outlets were closed during the four days of fighting, the Fatah sponsored Palestine TV has been moved to Ramallah in the West Bank after Hamas closed their office in Gaza, the director fleeing for his life. As one of their anchors pointed out, their callers from Gaza are now their eyes on the street in Gaza.
The following words were spoken through streams of tears in a call to Palestine TV during last weeks fighting by an elderly woman from Beit Hanoun, Gaza,
Where are you Abu Mazen, where are you Ismail Haniyeh?
Curse political titles
Why do we Arabs fight each other?
We want to live, we want peace
This will be recorded in history
Where are you Muslims, shame on you
We don’t want political titles
What is this that is happening?
Ibrahim my son, this is my son, shame on you
Oh world, come and see what Beit Hanoun looks like
During the days of incursions we used to be able to fill out water Gerry cans, now we can’t even leave out homes
Shame on you, you that killed Abu Lou’ai and Ibrahim..
Why is it that an elected government is required to carry out a coup?
After some days of reflection and hearing many, many accounts of what took place last week, I stick to my early conclusion that the Hamas routing of Fatah security forces in Gaza was politically warranted. But I don’t believe that the means justified the ends.
Sadly, the blood that was shed was the only option the opposition and the international community that backed it, left the democratically elected Hamas leadership to take on the role the people had chosen for it. Hamas’ takeover of Gaza’s rival security forces took on the form of a coup because they were not given rightful control of government institutions after winning the elections. This coup may have been the only option left for Hamas to attempt to earn some form of legitimacy and end the endless inter-factional fighting.
The vast majority of Gazans are living a much safer reality today than they were when two parties vied for authority over Gaza’s security forces. Yet, a minority still suffers, Fatah members fear Hamas searches of their homes, mother’s fear that their sons, who were employed by the former security forces, will be rounded up and punished. The same certainly filled the hearts of Hamas members and their families in the past; now the tables have turned. The reality is that in this society checks and balances are few and far between, largely relying on a familial network of who knows who.
While visiting Ireland yesterday, Jimmy Carter had this to say,
“This effort to divide Palestinians into two peoples now is a step in the wrong direction, all efforts of the international community should be to reconcile the two, but there's no effort from the outside to bring the two together."
"The United States and Israel decided to punish all the people in Palestine and did everything they could to deter a compromise between Hamas and Fatah."
Hamas was given few options and now has played into this strategy of division. Despite positive reports of last week’s events by a human rights group, Hamas ought to be held responsible for some of the brutal actions perpetrated. The bluff of the international community ought to be called; they fabricated this division and now seek to perpetuate it. Today, Abu Mazen accused Mishal of his attempted assassination, by airing a video recording that he claims proves his statements. Hamas for its part accused Dahlan, Abu Mazen’s National Security Advisor, of poisoning former president Yaser Arafat and attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Haniyeh.
In the course of this political power struggle, it is the common people that suffer.
Many rival media outlets were closed during the four days of fighting, the Fatah sponsored Palestine TV has been moved to Ramallah in the West Bank after Hamas closed their office in Gaza, the director fleeing for his life. As one of their anchors pointed out, their callers from Gaza are now their eyes on the street in Gaza.
The following words were spoken through streams of tears in a call to Palestine TV during last weeks fighting by an elderly woman from Beit Hanoun, Gaza,
Where are you Abu Mazen, where are you Ismail Haniyeh?
Curse political titles
Why do we Arabs fight each other?
We want to live, we want peace
This will be recorded in history
Where are you Muslims, shame on you
We don’t want political titles
What is this that is happening?
Ibrahim my son, this is my son, shame on you
Oh world, come and see what Beit Hanoun looks like
During the days of incursions we used to be able to fill out water Gerry cans, now we can’t even leave out homes
Shame on you, you that killed Abu Lou’ai and Ibrahim..
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Trading Thrills for Security and Self-determination
My friend Mohamed the policeman decided not to go to work since Monday. All but one of the ten people in his unit did the same. Mohamed was in surprisingly high spirits when I saw him last night, “I am free, I have no work!” After almost two years he is finally expecting to be paid a full months wage while being ordered not to appear for work.
Now Hamas has to attend to the mundane daily duties that a government is meant to. Hamas security members are driving around old Fatah vehicles and Hamas policemen in green caps (the party's colors) have been controlling traffic, although they look a bit inexperienced, many are rather energetic in their new jobs. When a Hamas militant tells you to stop, you stop. Mohamed pointed out to me that Gazans need an iron fist to rule them, that is the only thing they will listen to and respect.
Yesterday I heard hammering outside near my building. A group of Bedouins that are illegally living in metal shacks have been told to move them. Law and order is being put into effect. I never thought I would see this day in Gaza.
The Hamas Ministry of Interior has provided Mohamed’s father, a retired army general with an official permit for possession of his personal arms and his PA vehicle. Many other such vehicles have been confiscated from Fatah officials considered corrupt by Hamas, while in some areas searches have been carried out door to door for Fatah weapons.
A taxi driver told me that so many of the Fatah leaders that were chased out of Gaza were the ones that were ruining things, they never paid their bills and messed things up for the rest of the people. In Gaza, much like other Arab societies, so many daily obstacles (like paying bills, canceling traffic tickets, getting your kids to pass their exams..) rely on who you know or who you are to get done. In some ways the often corrupt Fatah leadership has finally paid their bills, yet many innocent policemen, government employees and others are being punished along with their superiors.
The fruit shop down the street was rather empty today, only local vegetables, some local fruit and three baskets of Israeli apples. For nine days now items like fruit and newspapers have not been allowed into Gaza. It seems Israel is punishing Palestinians, much like a disobedient child, by confiscating some of the everyday thrills of life, like Israeli fruit, yogurt and newspapers.
A report in the International Herald Tribune reported,
"Israel's agriculture minister, Shalom Simchon, has asked Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who officially took office on Tuesday, to find a way to resume the transfer of Israeli produce into Gaza, Army Radio reported. The closure of Karni is costing Israeli farmers who market to Gaza almost $5 million a week, a farmer's association said. Simchon told Army Radio, "Anyone who thinks that the crossings with Gaza will remain closed is wrong."
Israel’s economy is intricately tied to Gaza’s and Israel is losing just as much if not more than the Palestinians are with such a closure; Gaza serves as Israel’s third class market as pointed out ever so discretely in Haaretz,
“In some cases this fruit is grown specifically for Gaza and is not sold in Israel, and it will be extremely difficult for farmers to find alternative markets in Israel or overseas.”
Now Hamas has to attend to the mundane daily duties that a government is meant to. Hamas security members are driving around old Fatah vehicles and Hamas policemen in green caps (the party's colors) have been controlling traffic, although they look a bit inexperienced, many are rather energetic in their new jobs. When a Hamas militant tells you to stop, you stop. Mohamed pointed out to me that Gazans need an iron fist to rule them, that is the only thing they will listen to and respect.
Yesterday I heard hammering outside near my building. A group of Bedouins that are illegally living in metal shacks have been told to move them. Law and order is being put into effect. I never thought I would see this day in Gaza.
The Hamas Ministry of Interior has provided Mohamed’s father, a retired army general with an official permit for possession of his personal arms and his PA vehicle. Many other such vehicles have been confiscated from Fatah officials considered corrupt by Hamas, while in some areas searches have been carried out door to door for Fatah weapons.
A taxi driver told me that so many of the Fatah leaders that were chased out of Gaza were the ones that were ruining things, they never paid their bills and messed things up for the rest of the people. In Gaza, much like other Arab societies, so many daily obstacles (like paying bills, canceling traffic tickets, getting your kids to pass their exams..) rely on who you know or who you are to get done. In some ways the often corrupt Fatah leadership has finally paid their bills, yet many innocent policemen, government employees and others are being punished along with their superiors.
The fruit shop down the street was rather empty today, only local vegetables, some local fruit and three baskets of Israeli apples. For nine days now items like fruit and newspapers have not been allowed into Gaza. It seems Israel is punishing Palestinians, much like a disobedient child, by confiscating some of the everyday thrills of life, like Israeli fruit, yogurt and newspapers.A report in the International Herald Tribune reported,
"Israel's agriculture minister, Shalom Simchon, has asked Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who officially took office on Tuesday, to find a way to resume the transfer of Israeli produce into Gaza, Army Radio reported. The closure of Karni is costing Israeli farmers who market to Gaza almost $5 million a week, a farmer's association said. Simchon told Army Radio, "Anyone who thinks that the crossings with Gaza will remain closed is wrong."
Israel’s economy is intricately tied to Gaza’s and Israel is losing just as much if not more than the Palestinians are with such a closure; Gaza serves as Israel’s third class market as pointed out ever so discretely in Haaretz,
“In some cases this fruit is grown specifically for Gaza and is not sold in Israel, and it will be extremely difficult for farmers to find alternative markets in Israel or overseas.”
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Desecration of Democracy
What does it take to get Israel to just begin recognizing some Palestinian human rights?
1. Carry out democratic elections
2. Determine a government according to the election outcome
3. THEN isolate this government in one part of the country
4. Set an illegal embargo on the people there
5. Freeze the government’s bank accounts
6. Isolate the government internationally
The result will be:
1. The return of all stolen taxes belonging to Palestinians
2. An easing of roadblocks and security measures
3. Lifting of the illegally imposed economic embargo
4. International funding for a new non-democratically determined government
5. Normalization of relations between international governments and the non-democratically determined government
6. The legalizing of private American trade (the world’s largest economy) with Palestinians (previously this deed could result in incarceration)
7. The releasing of a political prisoner (with four life sentences) to strengthen the non-democratically determined government
To try and bolster this two-faced US foreign policy position in the Middle East, the US Secretary of State said Monday:
"Through its actions, Hamas sought to divide the Palestinian nation, we reject that. It is the position of the United States that there is one Palestinian people and there should be one Palestinian state."
In reality is it not Israel and the US that are dividing the Palestinians by politically immobilizing their elected leaders?
On Tuesday White House spokesman Tony Snow was reported saying,
"What's important is, you have to have a partner who is committed to peace, and we believe that President Abbas is. And therefore we are committed to working with this new emergency government.”
A source in the prime minister's entourage in the US explained,
"We want to make Hamas a pariah and prevent it joining the international game."
Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last week resulted in two governments: the Hamas leadership headed by deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza and a new emergency cabinet led by the Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad in the West Bank. Both are calling the other the perpetrators of a coup.
What are the sources of this division?
A fear overtook the Gaza Strip after Hamas took control of institutions this past week, which are rightfully theirs to control. The US and Israel’s anticipated and proclaimed reaction to the latest round of events (a democratically elected government taking over government institutions) is causing fear and uncertainty concerning Gazans future plight. Few outside of Gaza realize that the Gaza Strip can hardly be more isolated, or sink into a worse economic depression, save starvation, than it has in the past two years.
Many in Gaza consider the emergency government to be legitimate, for the sole reason that the world, not the majority of Palestinians, actually recognizes the new political entity (in the last parliamentary elections the new prime minister’s party received 2.4% of vote).
The colonial tactic of Conquer and Divide is being put to use on the Palestinians yet once again; initially in the Gaza Strip between Fatah and Hamas and now between the West Bank and Gaza.
This image, developed by Hamas (recalling the American deck of cards of their most wanted in Iraq), paints a vivid picture of the deep seeded divisions in Palestinian society.
Why was Hamas so determined to wipe out this “collaborative cell in Fatah”? To just touch on this question brings to the surface the deck’s Ace, a Dahlan funded hit man called Sameech Almadhoun, nicknamed “Almaleoun” (the cursed one) by many Hamas supporters. In the past weeks Hamas systematically executed his companions and leaders and finally Sameech himself after this small group of fighters wreaked havoc in their neighborhood in the Northern Gaza Strip.
Palestinians are more divided and polarized than ever which can be seen in their reaction to last week’s events. Each side is pointing out the ultimate blame in the other. Haaretz reported this account from a Fatah member who had fled Gaza,
"Hamas believes that nothing will stop them from rising to power. Everything is legitimate: to kill, burn, torture. Three people from National Security were decapitated with a knife, the way they do in Iraq. They cut off the legs of Samih al-Madhun [a senior Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades figure] after they killed him. They are animals."
My neighbor Ayman, a Hamas supporter, was kidnapped by Sameech one week before the latter was executed. Ayman was beaten and taken to the beach to be shot. His oldest brother, himself a Fatah activist, saved his life by calling the perpetrators and pleading for his younger brother’s life, many others were not as fortunate.
“Civil War” has often been uttered prematurely in the media, yet last week’s kidnappings, lootings and murders now taking place on a tit-for-tat basis between West Bank Fatah men and Hamas activists in Gaza demonstrate this new reality. Sameech and his companions were used to sow division between Palestinians.
Part of a Conquer and Divide strategy is timing. Why did Israel wait until this moment to consider Mahmoud Abbas a “partner committed to peace” when his positions have hardly changed since his election over two years ago? Why is Israel only now considering freeing Marwan Al-Barghouthi, a convicted Fatah activist? Why only now release the frozen government taxes ($570 million) that the Palestinians have desperately needed since Israel started withholding them in March of last year?
On Monday Haaretz’s Akiva Eldar wrote,
If Ariel Sharon were able to hear the news from the Gaza Strip and West Bank, he would call his loyal aide, Dov Weissglas, and say with a big laugh: "We did it, Dubi." Sharon is in a coma, but his plan is alive and kicking. Everyone is now talking about the state of Hamastan. In his house, they called it a bantustan, after the South African protectorates designed to perpetuate apartheid.
Just as in the Palestinian territories, blacks and colored people in South Africa were given limited autonomy in the country's least fertile areas. Those who remained outside these isolated enclaves, which were disconnected from each other, received the status of foreign workers, without civil rights. A few years ago, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema told Israeli friends that shortly before he was elected prime minister, Sharon told him that the bantustan plan was the most suitable solution to our conflict.
Although Mahmoud Abbas and his new US backed government have finally received international status and the economic blockade is being lifted on Palestinians, the Palestinian cause seems to have been buried beneath the ruble. With internal division more than ever in the limelight, the source of all this mess, the atrocities carried out against Palestinians dating back to the early 20th Century, solidified in 1948 and ongoing land theft, colonial expansion and disregard of Palestinian human rights are forgotten amidst the chaos.
The Palestinians are more divided than ever, distracted by wrongs carried out against each other.
The plot of Conquer and Divide is a great smokescreen covering up the desecration of democracy and another attempt to lay to rest the Palestinian cause.
1. Carry out democratic elections
2. Determine a government according to the election outcome
3. THEN isolate this government in one part of the country
4. Set an illegal embargo on the people there
5. Freeze the government’s bank accounts
6. Isolate the government internationally
The result will be:
1. The return of all stolen taxes belonging to Palestinians
2. An easing of roadblocks and security measures
3. Lifting of the illegally imposed economic embargo
4. International funding for a new non-democratically determined government
5. Normalization of relations between international governments and the non-democratically determined government
6. The legalizing of private American trade (the world’s largest economy) with Palestinians (previously this deed could result in incarceration)
7. The releasing of a political prisoner (with four life sentences) to strengthen the non-democratically determined government
To try and bolster this two-faced US foreign policy position in the Middle East, the US Secretary of State said Monday:
"Through its actions, Hamas sought to divide the Palestinian nation, we reject that. It is the position of the United States that there is one Palestinian people and there should be one Palestinian state."
In reality is it not Israel and the US that are dividing the Palestinians by politically immobilizing their elected leaders?
On Tuesday White House spokesman Tony Snow was reported saying,
"What's important is, you have to have a partner who is committed to peace, and we believe that President Abbas is. And therefore we are committed to working with this new emergency government.”
A source in the prime minister's entourage in the US explained,
"We want to make Hamas a pariah and prevent it joining the international game."
Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last week resulted in two governments: the Hamas leadership headed by deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza and a new emergency cabinet led by the Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad in the West Bank. Both are calling the other the perpetrators of a coup.
What are the sources of this division?
A fear overtook the Gaza Strip after Hamas took control of institutions this past week, which are rightfully theirs to control. The US and Israel’s anticipated and proclaimed reaction to the latest round of events (a democratically elected government taking over government institutions) is causing fear and uncertainty concerning Gazans future plight. Few outside of Gaza realize that the Gaza Strip can hardly be more isolated, or sink into a worse economic depression, save starvation, than it has in the past two years.
Many in Gaza consider the emergency government to be legitimate, for the sole reason that the world, not the majority of Palestinians, actually recognizes the new political entity (in the last parliamentary elections the new prime minister’s party received 2.4% of vote).
The colonial tactic of Conquer and Divide is being put to use on the Palestinians yet once again; initially in the Gaza Strip between Fatah and Hamas and now between the West Bank and Gaza.
This image, developed by Hamas (recalling the American deck of cards of their most wanted in Iraq), paints a vivid picture of the deep seeded divisions in Palestinian society.
Why was Hamas so determined to wipe out this “collaborative cell in Fatah”? To just touch on this question brings to the surface the deck’s Ace, a Dahlan funded hit man called Sameech Almadhoun, nicknamed “Almaleoun” (the cursed one) by many Hamas supporters. In the past weeks Hamas systematically executed his companions and leaders and finally Sameech himself after this small group of fighters wreaked havoc in their neighborhood in the Northern Gaza Strip.Palestinians are more divided and polarized than ever which can be seen in their reaction to last week’s events. Each side is pointing out the ultimate blame in the other. Haaretz reported this account from a Fatah member who had fled Gaza,
"Hamas believes that nothing will stop them from rising to power. Everything is legitimate: to kill, burn, torture. Three people from National Security were decapitated with a knife, the way they do in Iraq. They cut off the legs of Samih al-Madhun [a senior Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades figure] after they killed him. They are animals."
My neighbor Ayman, a Hamas supporter, was kidnapped by Sameech one week before the latter was executed. Ayman was beaten and taken to the beach to be shot. His oldest brother, himself a Fatah activist, saved his life by calling the perpetrators and pleading for his younger brother’s life, many others were not as fortunate.
“Civil War” has often been uttered prematurely in the media, yet last week’s kidnappings, lootings and murders now taking place on a tit-for-tat basis between West Bank Fatah men and Hamas activists in Gaza demonstrate this new reality. Sameech and his companions were used to sow division between Palestinians.
Part of a Conquer and Divide strategy is timing. Why did Israel wait until this moment to consider Mahmoud Abbas a “partner committed to peace” when his positions have hardly changed since his election over two years ago? Why is Israel only now considering freeing Marwan Al-Barghouthi, a convicted Fatah activist? Why only now release the frozen government taxes ($570 million) that the Palestinians have desperately needed since Israel started withholding them in March of last year?
On Monday Haaretz’s Akiva Eldar wrote,
If Ariel Sharon were able to hear the news from the Gaza Strip and West Bank, he would call his loyal aide, Dov Weissglas, and say with a big laugh: "We did it, Dubi." Sharon is in a coma, but his plan is alive and kicking. Everyone is now talking about the state of Hamastan. In his house, they called it a bantustan, after the South African protectorates designed to perpetuate apartheid.
Just as in the Palestinian territories, blacks and colored people in South Africa were given limited autonomy in the country's least fertile areas. Those who remained outside these isolated enclaves, which were disconnected from each other, received the status of foreign workers, without civil rights. A few years ago, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema told Israeli friends that shortly before he was elected prime minister, Sharon told him that the bantustan plan was the most suitable solution to our conflict.
Although Mahmoud Abbas and his new US backed government have finally received international status and the economic blockade is being lifted on Palestinians, the Palestinian cause seems to have been buried beneath the ruble. With internal division more than ever in the limelight, the source of all this mess, the atrocities carried out against Palestinians dating back to the early 20th Century, solidified in 1948 and ongoing land theft, colonial expansion and disregard of Palestinian human rights are forgotten amidst the chaos.
The Palestinians are more divided than ever, distracted by wrongs carried out against each other.
The plot of Conquer and Divide is a great smokescreen covering up the desecration of democracy and another attempt to lay to rest the Palestinian cause.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Choosing between two governments in Gaza
In Gaza the reality of being ruled by two governments for some is becoming a daily dilemma. My neighbor Mohamed is a police officer and responsible for security at the AlAqsa University in Gaza City. His superiors in the West Bank have informed him he is to remain home and will continue to receive his monthly salary. In return local Hamas authorities have informed the police force that they will be dismissed from the police if they do not appear for work.
Mohamed is faced with a tough decision, does he respect local authorities, which after all represent the Palestinian people’s elected government and at the end of the day are those that have most say in his day to day life in Gaza (after all the Fatah authorities deserted him along with other non-Hamas supporters, in Gaza)? Or, will he obey those that actually pay his salary, the new emergency government, not elected by the people and yet the governing body recognized by the West and other Arab nations alike as the sole representing political body of the Palestinians?
Mohamed says his colleagues will determine their actions according to who is paying their salaries. If the local Hamas authorities will pay them for their services they will obey them and go to work. If they continue to be paid by the President and his new emergency government in the West Bank they will remain at home.
Word has gone around that some officers will report to the West Bank authorities which members of the police force are obeying Hamas orders and working and that these will then be removed from their posts and their salaries canceled. This way they say the emergency government will determine who is a Hamas supporter (those that obey Hamas orders and work) and those that are Fatah supporters (those that obey Fatah orders and remain at work).
The future is unclear. How long will the Hamas government last in Gaza? Will the emergency Fatah government actually stand by “its people” in Gaza as it promised today? How about the economic boycott that is beginning to be carried out, within two days Gaza will run out of petrol, the electricity company will be forced to shut down, within a week supplies of most basic foods will run dry, will Israel continue the economic blockade?
Meanwhile, temporary Hamas policemen took to the streets today wearing brand new Hamas vests; traffic in the streets has never been so organized and disciplined. Finally, the Gaza Strip has just one government and just one police force governing it. A sense of order and security are the upsides that come along with the fear of a very uncertain future.
Meanwhile, a Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon, landed in Israel. With a government proving itself to be rather incapable, Israel is getting into one prickly situation after another and sending 20,000 soldiers into Gaza sounds to me like another worthless bloodbath.
Mohamed is faced with a tough decision, does he respect local authorities, which after all represent the Palestinian people’s elected government and at the end of the day are those that have most say in his day to day life in Gaza (after all the Fatah authorities deserted him along with other non-Hamas supporters, in Gaza)? Or, will he obey those that actually pay his salary, the new emergency government, not elected by the people and yet the governing body recognized by the West and other Arab nations alike as the sole representing political body of the Palestinians?
Mohamed says his colleagues will determine their actions according to who is paying their salaries. If the local Hamas authorities will pay them for their services they will obey them and go to work. If they continue to be paid by the President and his new emergency government in the West Bank they will remain at home.
Word has gone around that some officers will report to the West Bank authorities which members of the police force are obeying Hamas orders and working and that these will then be removed from their posts and their salaries canceled. This way they say the emergency government will determine who is a Hamas supporter (those that obey Hamas orders and work) and those that are Fatah supporters (those that obey Fatah orders and remain at work).
The future is unclear. How long will the Hamas government last in Gaza? Will the emergency Fatah government actually stand by “its people” in Gaza as it promised today? How about the economic boycott that is beginning to be carried out, within two days Gaza will run out of petrol, the electricity company will be forced to shut down, within a week supplies of most basic foods will run dry, will Israel continue the economic blockade?
Meanwhile, temporary Hamas policemen took to the streets today wearing brand new Hamas vests; traffic in the streets has never been so organized and disciplined. Finally, the Gaza Strip has just one government and just one police force governing it. A sense of order and security are the upsides that come along with the fear of a very uncertain future.
Meanwhile, a Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon, landed in Israel. With a government proving itself to be rather incapable, Israel is getting into one prickly situation after another and sending 20,000 soldiers into Gaza sounds to me like another worthless bloodbath.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Why Gaza is hungry, scared and isolated
flo
The conversation at the lunch table with Isa and May, Elias and Rana was just about two things, immigrating and what the most vital shopping items are for their homes.
“People are thinking of how to spend the summer vacation we are thinking of how to stockpile food,” said Rana Al Najjar, one of my hosts as we made a trip to the shop to buy what food was still available.
News has spread through Gaza that in light of the economic embargo on the Gaza Strip we will run out of gasoline by tomorrow. This means electricity will also cut as the main power station in Gaza is run on petrol.
Our first stop was a natural gas shop where we drop off our oven’s gas bottles and were told to pick them up filled in the evening.
Next was a wholesale sugar store. Prices of sugar, flour and basic foods are going up as people are buying in a frenzy, afraid of shortages in coming days.
Our last stop was the grocers, where swarms of people were shopping in order to stock up for a very uncertain future.
My visit at the hospital this morning was difficult. On Friday Ghada’s brother was shot in his right leg twice, one bullet remained in his leg. When he first arrived at the hospital they had placed him on a wooden board waiting for space to be freed for him. His operation lasted many hours and ended with 33 stitches in his leg.
Ghada told me that he had screamed a lot the night before. When I saw him he was still writhing in pain. Sa’ed is 22 and had just working for the Fatah secret police two months ago. He is unmarried and jumped at this opportunity to take a job in order to prepare for his future. The events of the past days were not what he had reckoned for and whatever grudges Hamas held against the security apparatus he was not one with blood on his hands.
What I witnessed at the hospital was horrible and that was without even entering one single hospital room. Sa’ed was in a bed in the hallway, since they had run out of rooms and at one point even out of beds. Looking from the hospital window I saw at least three other young men being moved around on beds or wheelchairs with just their right leg bandaged. Being shot in the legs, a common occurrence in the past days of fighting is a horrible form of torture.
Mahmoud Abbas has declined a meeting with Hamas’ Khaled Mishal citing he would not meet with “murderers.” Furthermore, an internationally backed and recognized emergency government is to be sworn in later this evening, after the president has officially dissolved the democratically elected, Hamas dominated unity government.
I want to point out at this point that I called the events of the last few days a “coup” in accordance with what many in Gaza are naming it. In hindsight I consider Hamas to have a legitimate political right to the military takeover that occurred. Yet, this is not to say that this occurrence bodes well for the people, rather there is a fear of this turning into a social and humanitarian crisis.
The source of this fear of what the future holds is two-fold.
The at times double-faced statements of the Hamas leadership (in Sa'ed's case Hamas announced they did not harm any Fatah security force members that handed themselves over, Sa'ed did and was shot at by a sniper, then tortured and shot in the legs), a priority of their own people over the general public and their seeming lack of realpolitik, revealed in the few signs of a strategy or plan for the future by the Hamas leadership (after routing Fatah security forces and political leadership in Gaza and taking over their headquarters, Hamas declared they recognize Abu Mazen as president and do not consider Gaza a separate Palestinian entity). The consequences of this are felt by the people, not those in power.
Yet, my fear is rooted even deeper in the actions of the “International Community” (largely a pseudonym for the USA) who has refused to recognize a democratically elected Palestinian government in an election that was enforced on the Palestinians in accordance with an American Foreign Policy drive for “Democracy in the Middle East.” Moreover this “International Community” collectively punishes Palestinians for their “democratic” vote which the world’s sole superpower is not in favor of.
Because of a hypocritical promise of "freedom" through “democratic reform,” Sa’ed is suffering in an open air hospital bed in Gaza City, Rana, Elias, Isa and May are scrounging to stockpile food for an uncertain future and the entire Gaza Strip is punished on behalf of the duplicitous ideology and wishful thinking of a few rich white men.
The conversation at the lunch table with Isa and May, Elias and Rana was just about two things, immigrating and what the most vital shopping items are for their homes.“People are thinking of how to spend the summer vacation we are thinking of how to stockpile food,” said Rana Al Najjar, one of my hosts as we made a trip to the shop to buy what food was still available.
News has spread through Gaza that in light of the economic embargo on the Gaza Strip we will run out of gasoline by tomorrow. This means electricity will also cut as the main power station in Gaza is run on petrol.
Our first stop was a natural gas shop where we drop off our oven’s gas bottles and were told to pick them up filled in the evening.Next was a wholesale sugar store. Prices of sugar, flour and basic foods are going up as people are buying in a frenzy, afraid of shortages in coming days.
Our last stop was the grocers, where swarms of people were shopping in order to stock up for a very uncertain future.
My visit at the hospital this morning was difficult. On Friday Ghada’s brother was shot in his right leg twice, one bullet remained in his leg. When he first arrived at the hospital they had placed him on a wooden board waiting for space to be freed for him. His operation lasted many hours and ended with 33 stitches in his leg.Ghada told me that he had screamed a lot the night before. When I saw him he was still writhing in pain. Sa’ed is 22 and had just working for the Fatah secret police two months ago. He is unmarried and jumped at this opportunity to take a job in order to prepare for his future. The events of the past days were not what he had reckoned for and whatever grudges Hamas held against the security apparatus he was not one with blood on his hands.
What I witnessed at the hospital was horrible and that was without even entering one single hospital room. Sa’ed was in a bed in the hallway, since they had run out of rooms and at one point even out of beds. Looking from the hospital window I saw at least three other young men being moved around on beds or wheelchairs with just their right leg bandaged. Being shot in the legs, a common occurrence in the past days of fighting is a horrible form of torture.
Mahmoud Abbas has declined a meeting with Hamas’ Khaled Mishal citing he would not meet with “murderers.” Furthermore, an internationally backed and recognized emergency government is to be sworn in later this evening, after the president has officially dissolved the democratically elected, Hamas dominated unity government.
I want to point out at this point that I called the events of the last few days a “coup” in accordance with what many in Gaza are naming it. In hindsight I consider Hamas to have a legitimate political right to the military takeover that occurred. Yet, this is not to say that this occurrence bodes well for the people, rather there is a fear of this turning into a social and humanitarian crisis.
The source of this fear of what the future holds is two-fold.
The at times double-faced statements of the Hamas leadership (in Sa'ed's case Hamas announced they did not harm any Fatah security force members that handed themselves over, Sa'ed did and was shot at by a sniper, then tortured and shot in the legs), a priority of their own people over the general public and their seeming lack of realpolitik, revealed in the few signs of a strategy or plan for the future by the Hamas leadership (after routing Fatah security forces and political leadership in Gaza and taking over their headquarters, Hamas declared they recognize Abu Mazen as president and do not consider Gaza a separate Palestinian entity). The consequences of this are felt by the people, not those in power.
Yet, my fear is rooted even deeper in the actions of the “International Community” (largely a pseudonym for the USA) who has refused to recognize a democratically elected Palestinian government in an election that was enforced on the Palestinians in accordance with an American Foreign Policy drive for “Democracy in the Middle East.” Moreover this “International Community” collectively punishes Palestinians for their “democratic” vote which the world’s sole superpower is not in favor of.
Because of a hypocritical promise of "freedom" through “democratic reform,” Sa’ed is suffering in an open air hospital bed in Gaza City, Rana, Elias, Isa and May are scrounging to stockpile food for an uncertain future and the entire Gaza Strip is punished on behalf of the duplicitous ideology and wishful thinking of a few rich white men.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Dust clears in Gaza
After a turbulent few days and the initial stages of surprise some changes have started to become clear on the ground in Gaza.
UNRWA announced all its operations would return to full capacity after early signs that they would be reduced due to inter-factional fighting.
Hamas has announced that negotiations were taking place with Alan Johnston's captors and promised release by Saturday.
Under U.S. pressure the Government of Israel declared it would release tax monies withheld from the PA since Hamas' election victory early last year (over $700 million dollars) in order to strengthen Abu Mazen's political position vis a vis the Palestinians. As can be seen in this picture, the weak leader is in urgent need of anything he can get.
We walked the streets at midnight tonight, they seemed safer than ever. A friend of mine's brother was shot in the leg yesterday by Hamas forces and is in hospital after a critical operation. I will go visit him and Dr Attalah in the morning.
After routing Fatah in Gaza and taking over every last security stronghold, it seems Hamas has noticed it has reached a bit of a dead end politically and has declared its continued recognition of Abu Mazen as the legitimate Palestinian president.
Fatah on the other hand has responded by naming the Gaza Strip a renegade entity and declaring an emergency government in the West Bank. This is the most bizarre democracy concoction the U.S. hass created here.
What occurred across the Gaza Strip this week was not a civil war, from my understanding of the concept, because it was a one-sided offensive. Yet, we have seen little signs of tit-for-tat arrests and threats taking place between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.. this could be the birth pangs of something like a civil war.
UNRWA announced all its operations would return to full capacity after early signs that they would be reduced due to inter-factional fighting.
Hamas has announced that negotiations were taking place with Alan Johnston's captors and promised release by Saturday.
Under U.S. pressure the Government of Israel declared it would release tax monies withheld from the PA since Hamas' election victory early last year (over $700 million dollars) in order to strengthen Abu Mazen's political position vis a vis the Palestinians. As can be seen in this picture, the weak leader is in urgent need of anything he can get.
We walked the streets at midnight tonight, they seemed safer than ever. A friend of mine's brother was shot in the leg yesterday by Hamas forces and is in hospital after a critical operation. I will go visit him and Dr Attalah in the morning.
After routing Fatah in Gaza and taking over every last security stronghold, it seems Hamas has noticed it has reached a bit of a dead end politically and has declared its continued recognition of Abu Mazen as the legitimate Palestinian president.
Fatah on the other hand has responded by naming the Gaza Strip a renegade entity and declaring an emergency government in the West Bank. This is the most bizarre democracy concoction the U.S. hass created here.
What occurred across the Gaza Strip this week was not a civil war, from my understanding of the concept, because it was a one-sided offensive. Yet, we have seen little signs of tit-for-tat arrests and threats taking place between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.. this could be the birth pangs of something like a civil war.
Awaking to a New Reailty in Gaza
In Gaza people awake today to a new reality. Last night, my host Isa told me military coups were the sort of thing he heard and read about, he never thought he would experience one. Yesterday Gazans did.
Although the final Fatah stronghold was still standing by the evening Hamas fighters were already making the rounds in the streets, three and four jeeps at a time, loaded with armed men wearing all black, their faces covered with masks, holding their guns in the air, a few, rather uncomfortably, waving to the people. On Alaqsa, the only remaining radio station being aired from Gaza belonging to Hamas, these areas are being called “freed” from the traitors.
A former Fatah spokesman, now speaking on behalf of Hamas, was heard on the air denouncing his former leaders, calling them US spies and traitors.
A further shock came around 8pm when Abu Mazen announced Gaza a renegade entity and declared his presidency over the West Bank. Gazans reacted with disgust. During the fighting of the past few days Abu Mazan was largely silent, ordering his forces to stay in their bases. Many consider Abu Mazen to have sold out his own leadership in the Gaza Strip by not coming to their rescue, now he was throwing his people (Fatah supporters) away, like garbage, they said.
With the electricity cut and cell phones working only rarely people clung to the radio to hear as the latest news unfolded. With only one local station in Gaza and only one perspective to be heard rumors abounded. Supposedly fishermen had called in to the Hamas station reporting that some of the Fatah leadership taking final refuge in the president’s compound had escaped by sea some heading South to Egypt, others north towards Israel. One report gave the name of a drug dealer and a Fatah spokesman supposedly escaping together on one boat.
Sitting on the street one could hear the news spread, often the same names of people who had been killed or thought to have escaped were mentioned among the people walking by. The coup d'état was the only thought on their minds of young and old.
A friend, who works with a Fatah security apparatus, told me that the Hamas men that came to his door checking IDs had treated him well. As long as one did not have his weapons on him and stayed home Hamas considered these Fatah members “honorable” in contrast to the “traitors” who resisted what Hamas considers their justified military coup. “Traitors” were at times either shot in the legs or depending on their status brutally executed.
One of the Fatah military compounds freed on Friday was the location of prisons and torture halls where many Hamas members had been tortured over the years for their opposition to the Fatah government. The Hamas celebration at taking it over was only logical.
On Wednesday Palestine TV, a Fatah station aired callers crying about the horrible scenes they had witnessed. An Islamic Jihad sheikh was interviewed condemning the events on the streets of Gaza. By Thursday all radio and TV stations belonging to Fatah in the Gaza Strip were closed down.
Generally people are very concerned about what the near future holds. The streets seem rather secure, but anyone that was at all in opposition to Hamas is scared, most are staying home or are in hiding somewhere. Cars are moving about, people are walking the streets, I am back at the Marna House, people are smoking shisha and laughing. Along the road outside old men are sitting in the shade playing backgammon. The combination of normalcy of life and fear of the unknown of the future makes for a strange atmosphere.
Although the final Fatah stronghold was still standing by the evening Hamas fighters were already making the rounds in the streets, three and four jeeps at a time, loaded with armed men wearing all black, their faces covered with masks, holding their guns in the air, a few, rather uncomfortably, waving to the people. On Alaqsa, the only remaining radio station being aired from Gaza belonging to Hamas, these areas are being called “freed” from the traitors.
A former Fatah spokesman, now speaking on behalf of Hamas, was heard on the air denouncing his former leaders, calling them US spies and traitors.
A further shock came around 8pm when Abu Mazen announced Gaza a renegade entity and declared his presidency over the West Bank. Gazans reacted with disgust. During the fighting of the past few days Abu Mazan was largely silent, ordering his forces to stay in their bases. Many consider Abu Mazen to have sold out his own leadership in the Gaza Strip by not coming to their rescue, now he was throwing his people (Fatah supporters) away, like garbage, they said.
With the electricity cut and cell phones working only rarely people clung to the radio to hear as the latest news unfolded. With only one local station in Gaza and only one perspective to be heard rumors abounded. Supposedly fishermen had called in to the Hamas station reporting that some of the Fatah leadership taking final refuge in the president’s compound had escaped by sea some heading South to Egypt, others north towards Israel. One report gave the name of a drug dealer and a Fatah spokesman supposedly escaping together on one boat.
Sitting on the street one could hear the news spread, often the same names of people who had been killed or thought to have escaped were mentioned among the people walking by. The coup d'état was the only thought on their minds of young and old.
A friend, who works with a Fatah security apparatus, told me that the Hamas men that came to his door checking IDs had treated him well. As long as one did not have his weapons on him and stayed home Hamas considered these Fatah members “honorable” in contrast to the “traitors” who resisted what Hamas considers their justified military coup. “Traitors” were at times either shot in the legs or depending on their status brutally executed.
One of the Fatah military compounds freed on Friday was the location of prisons and torture halls where many Hamas members had been tortured over the years for their opposition to the Fatah government. The Hamas celebration at taking it over was only logical.
On Wednesday Palestine TV, a Fatah station aired callers crying about the horrible scenes they had witnessed. An Islamic Jihad sheikh was interviewed condemning the events on the streets of Gaza. By Thursday all radio and TV stations belonging to Fatah in the Gaza Strip were closed down.
Generally people are very concerned about what the near future holds. The streets seem rather secure, but anyone that was at all in opposition to Hamas is scared, most are staying home or are in hiding somewhere. Cars are moving about, people are walking the streets, I am back at the Marna House, people are smoking shisha and laughing. Along the road outside old men are sitting in the shade playing backgammon. The combination of normalcy of life and fear of the unknown of the future makes for a strange atmosphere.
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