2006-10-04-Palestinian strife |
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jewishsightseeing.com, October 4, 2006 |
By Ira Sharkansky
JERUSALEM—Has the Palestinian civil war finally
begun?
It is not clear to us or, apparently, to them.
Palestine has not for some time--perhaps never was--a
peaceful place. It has not developed the traits of a community, with
loyalty to the nation capable of competing with loyalty to family,
clan, locality, region, religious leadership, or political movement.
Moreover, an incidence of arms that would make the National Rifle
Association jealous means that personal, family, or larger squabbles
can become bloody, very quickly.
Especially since the Fatah
party, pretty much synonymous with the Palestine Liberation
Organization of Yassir Arafat and then Mahmoud Abbas, lost its
monopoly control of the Palestine National Authority, there have been
occasional dust-ups between gunmen allied with Fatah and those of
Hamas. It has gotten worse with the cut-off of international funding,
and perhaps eight months without full (or any) salaries for security
personnel, school teachers, health workers, and other public sector
employees. The Palestinian economy, especially that of Gaza, is in
deep distress. We hear estimates of unemployment in the range of 50
percent and no income for many of those who have jobs.
The month-long holiday of Ramadan, with its emphasis on
fasting, feasting, and gift-giving adds to frustration when the
economy is in misery.
And since July, the IDF has been active in Gaza, trying
to make life difficult for those who are holding an Israeli soldier,
or firing rockets at Israeli settlements, and most likely making life
even more difficult for everybody.
It is not clear to me who is shooting at who among the
Palestinians. Rather than organized armies, the pictures we see are
groups of young men firing at other groups of young men. In the latest
violence that peaked last Sunday, reports are that 10 Palestinians
have been killed and more than 100 injured.
For those expecting something like Bull Run or Gettysburg,
look somewhere else. This is a low-level conflict among competing
gangs in a society without much social unity, too many weapons, and
not much else to do.
From what we see and hear, no faction has a clear
advantage of arms or public support. And with the borders of the West
Bank and Gaza closed—albeit imperfectly—it is not easy for outside
supporters of one or another group to provide large scale transfers of
men or munitions.
So the conflict seems likely to continue, perhaps with
ups and downs as leaders of both Fatah and Hamas call for it to stop,
but seem unable or unwilling to call off their fighters. Perhaps they
have no fighters under their control. We have seen over the past six
years that national discipline is weak at best. Small groups do what
they want: recruiting and preparing suicide bombers, seizing and
holding an Israeli soldier and resisting efforts to arrange his
release, firing crude rockets toward Israel, and firing at other
Palestinians thought to be the enemies of the moment.
Is it good for the Jews or bad for the Jews?
All this may be good for Israel in the short run if it
distracts fighters from making efforts to kill Jews. It is hard to
imagine a benefit for Israel in the long run, insofar as no group
seems willing or able to gain control of the Authority in order to
stop the violence and begin reasonable negotiations for an end to our
conflict.
Recent news is that the likes of Jimmy Carter,
Condoleeza Rice, and Husni Mubarek are calling for things like a
return to the roadmap, the end of Israeli occupation, strengthening
Mahmoud Abbas, and creating a Palestinian State to live at peace
alongside a secure Israel. Some expressing these slogans may be well
informed, but cynical, or paying lip service to what is politically
correct. Insofar as the Palestinians are in the middle of the Middle
East, and they seem unready for peace, there is little for those of us
who are close to them to do beyond defending ourselves.
That may mean continuing to pick off individuals on our
target list as they expose themselves, pressuring some Palestinians to
inform us about others planning mayhem against us, and doing what we
can to destroy the workshops that produce those crude rockets that
occasionally make it out of Gaza. We decided some time ago that we
should not have to expose any of our people to the threats of suicide
bombers, drive-by shootings, or crude rockets. If our responses are
"disproportionate" to the threats against us, if they add to
the pressure within Palestine and increase violence among
Palestinians, it is their problem and not ours.
Paradise this is not.
Sharkansky is an emeritus member of the political science department at Hebrew University in Jerusalem
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