Fatah nu officiele collaborateursleger van VS en Israel

[Coolassprov MC]

Zie ook:

Is dit wat de westerse media een ''burgeroorlog'' noemt? (http://www.maroc.nl/nieuws/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=220972)

Fath is now the official collaborationist army of Israel; it is no different than the South Lebanon Army. "Israel, US, and Egypt back Fatah's fight against Hamas: The Bush administration has spent most of its $84 million in aid to Palestinians to train an elite corps of Fatah-loyal fighters.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0525/p07s02-wome.html

Israel, US, and Egypt back Fatah's fight against Hamas
The Bush administration has spent most of its $84 million in aid to Palestinians to train an elite corps of Fatah-loyal fighters.
By Dan Murphy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
and Joshua Mitnick | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
Page 1 of 4

Cairo and Tel Aviv - Senior US officials in Washington on Wednesday promised ongoing military support for secular Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas amid his power struggle with Islamist Hamas as part of an $84 million aid package largely aimed at improving the fighting ability of an elite corps of loyalists from his Fatah Party.

Israel, too, is making overtures to Mr. Abbas, reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Wednesday, allowing light arms to flow to members of his Presidential Guard and saying that it would allow some of the US training of his forces to take place in the West Bank.

That policy puts the US and Israel on a highly unusual course in the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: Four-square support for Fatah to contain, if not defeat, the growing power of Hamas, which won the Palestinian Authority's (PA) last election.

But whether the effort will succeed is far from certain, and some analysts say there are risks to that course, chief among them the possibility of further fueling the internal Palestinian conflict, leading to deeper despair in the occupied territories and a PA less able to make the compromises on peace with Israel than it is today.

"They want to see Hamas removed from office and see Fatah in control of everything, and [the military assistance program] should be seen as part and parcel of that approach," says Mouin Rabbani, of the International Crisis Group (ICG), reached in Amman, Jordan.

"If you want to reach a stable and durable Palestinian settlement you can't do that by empowering one faction at the expense of the other, since you very much guarantee that the other faction, which is being marginalized, will seek to undermine any peace agreement."

In the West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli troops arrested more than 30 top Hamas officials in a renewed offensive against the group after a spike in rocket fire on southern Israel. Among those apprehended was Palestinian Education Minister Nasser Shaer.

The US insists that all of its aid to the Presidential Guard is "nonlethal," consisting of training, uniforms, and supplies, as well as paying for better infrastructure at Gaza's borders.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2103786,00.html

Little to celebrate at the birth of 'Hamastan'


Ian Black, Middle East editor
Friday June 15, 2007
The Guardian

Hamas flags flying in triumph over the Gaza Strip represent a historic blow to Palestinian national unity as well as an end to already slim hopes for any sort of meaningful peace process with Israel.

Barring some dramatic reversal after the latest fighting - such as the improbable survival of the Hamas-Fatah coalition government - 1.4 million Palestinians in what is now being dubbed "Hamastan" will not only be physically cut off from their compatriots in the West Bank but will also be ruled by a movement that advocates armed resistance and is boycotted by Israel and the international community.

Neither side will be in a position to conduct negotiations with Israel or anyone else, killing off any hopes of urgently needed momentum to the current stalemate. "It leaves the Palestinians fragmented and very weak," said a senior Arab diplomat. Iran and Syria, which support Hamas, have boosted their influence.

Palestinians
Analysts say that even if Hamas controls security, it has nothing else to offer. Since the Islamist movement is shunned by Israel, it is unclear how contacts will be maintained over controlling border crossings as well as fuel and power supplies.

"The government will remain, but it does not govern. It will be there, but is incapable of doing its job," predicted Bir Zeit university's Ali al-Jarbawi. "The situation will be completely paralysed."

Palestinians see the Gaza crisis as the disastrous outcome of years of failure: of the Oslo peace process, Hamas's electoral win and the international sanctions imposed as a result. "If you have two brothers put into a cage and deprive them of basic essential needs for life, they will fight," said the Palestinian foreign minister, Ziad Abu Amr. Many say the Palestinian Authority is already effectively dead.

The blow to the Palestinians is especially grave because for decades it was an article of faith that they would never descend to civil strife. The strength of Yasser Arafat's PLO was having established itself as "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" to underline that it was not the creature of Arab states.

Israel
Israelis are divided between those who see a vindication of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005 and those who see a need for a Palestinian negotiating partner. Hamas's victory will destroy the ability of the Palestinian president and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas, to deliver on any agreements. "We bet on the Fatah horse - there weren't any others - and that horse has lost," said one Israeli diplomat. Fatah supporters complain that Israel never gave Mr Abbas the support he needed.

Watching from the sidelines, Israel now has few options left. Ehud Olmert's weak government is unlikely to send its forces permanently back to Gaza, though it may be the Hamas strategy to try to make that happen as it smuggles weapons under the border from Egypt. Hamas is seen in Jerusalem as the instrument of Israel's arch-enemy, Iran, which along with Syria helped the Lebanese Shia movement, Hizbullah, in its 33-day war with Israel last summer. "This situation isn't good for Israel. It's actually dreadful," said the veteran Yediot Aharonot analyst Roni Shaked. "The Palestinians are destroying their future with their own hands."

International community
Hamas has crushed the hopes of the Bush administration that Fatah would be able to re-establish security control over Gaza, a long-standing Israeli condition for resuming negotiations. Washington had just launched a controversial $60m programme to bolster Mr Abbas's presidential guard and Israel had quietly allowed Arab states to send in arms and ammunition.

The pro-western Arab states, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are devastated by the Hamas victory, which fuels their own fears of domestic Islamist opposition and strong dislike of Iran's role in Iraq and Lebanon. They say they want a ceasefire between the Palestinian factions, and then between Palestinians and Israelis. That must be followed by a new and credible peace process so there can be some hope that this most intractable of conflicts can one day, somehow, be fairly resolved.

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Hamas takes control of Gaza


Conal Urquart in Ramallah, Ian Black and Mark Tran
Friday June 15, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Palestinian militants from Hamas stand at the desk of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas inside Abbas' personal office after it was taken over by Hamas in fighting in Gaza City. Photograph: Hatem Moussa/AP.
Palestinian militants from Hamas stand at the desk of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, inside Abbas's personal office after it was taken over by Hamas infighting in Gaza City. Photograph: Hatem Moussa/AP.


Hamas fighters today basked in triumph after taking complete control in Gaza as the west scrambled for a response to the arrival of Islamist power on Israel's doorstep.

In a stark demonstration of the new facts on the ground, a masked Hamas fighter sat down at the desk of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, and declared an end to the western-backed authority in the Gaza strip.

In an imaginary telephone call to the US, a fighter from the Islamist movement's armed wing, Izz el-Deen al-Qassam, joked: "Hello Condoleezza Rice. You have to deal with me now, there is no Abu Mazen anymore."

In one of its first assertions of authority, Hamas called for the immediate release of the BBC Gaza correspondent, Alan Johnston, who was seized in March.

"He is a guest of the Palestinian people," a masked Hamas official said at a news conference.

Amid scenes of disorder, the deposed Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, called for an end to looting of abandoned Fatah properties and proposed reconciliation talks with Mr Abbas.

"I demand that all our people show calm and self-restraint and not take any action against those houses and compounds that contradicts the morals of our people," Mr Haniyeh told reporters before weekly prayers.

In scenes reminiscent of Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein, hundreds of people swarmed through the unoccupied house of Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan, after his neighbourhood fell to Hamas, stripping everything, including windows, doors and flowerpots.

"The scenes of Iraq were repeated in every single detail here in Gaza," Hamad Jad told the Associated Press news agency.

Hamas said it would grant an amnesty to a number of senior Fatah officials it had detained.

Among them were Musbah al-Bhaisi, the head of Abbas's presidential guard, Jamal Kayed, chief of the national security forces, Majed abu Shammala, Fatah's senior Gaza political official and the group's spokesman, and old Hamas foe Tawfiq abu Khoussa.

International reaction

As Gaza fell to Hamas control, the European commission threw its full support behind Mr Abbas and called for dialogue to end Palestinian infighting. "We fully support president Abbas," a spokeswoman for the EU executive told a news conference. "We call on president Abbas, the legitimate president of all Palestinians, to make his utmost to resolve the situation through dialogue and to work towards national unity and reconciliation."

She said foreign ministers of the quartet of international peace mediators - the US, the EU, Russia and the UN - would hold a telephone conference during the day to discuss developments in the Palestinian territories.

Britain's foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, took an uncompromising line towards Hamas.

"The notion that somehow mounting a coup d'etat is something that should be rewarded by the international community seems to me to be completely bizarre," she told the BBC's World At One programme. But she also acknowledged the complexities of the new situation, with the effective creation of two separate Palestinian authorities.

"There is no doubt that what will happen over the coming days is that people will have to consider what can be done, how we can work with the legitimate and legal Palestinian Authority to improve the position on the ground," she said.

"Certainly, finding a way through will not be easy, I accept that, but for the sake of the people of Palestine, we have to try to find it."

The west has boycotted Hamas since it swept to a surprise parliamentary election in January last year, as it considers the Islamist group a terrorist organisation that refuses to recognise Israel or renounce violence.

Israel and the US are expected to ease an embargo on the Palestinian Authority in order to boost Mr Abbas and his secular Fatah group, now that there are two warring Palestinian entities.

The Bush administration is expected to ask Israel to unfreeze tax funds it has been holding back from the Palestinian Authority and to consider loosening its military grip on the West Bank, home to most of the Palestinian population and dominated by Fatah.

Israeli and western officials said the US president, George Bush, and the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, could agree to send money to the West Bank when they meet in Washington next week.

"If there will be an emergency government without participation of Hamas, then the funds can flow," said a senior Israeli official. "From our point of view, there isn't a Hamas government any more."

While Hamas is in control of Gaza and declaring Islamist rule on Israel's doorstep, the Palestinian quest for an independent state is on the verge of collapse.

Fourteen years after the Oslo accords opened up the prospect of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, its putative territory was in danger of breaking into two warring entities. The week of violence between Hamas and Fatah has left almost 100 people, both gunmen and civilians, dead.

Last night Mr Abbas, declared a state of emergency from Ramallah in the West Bank and dissolved the three-month-old "national unity" government as he grasped for a strategy to undermine the "coup d'état".

But Mr Haniyeh of Hamas, said Mr Abbas's decision to dismiss him and his government was "hasty", and he pledged to stay in power.

Mr Haniyeh told a late night Gaza news conference that Mr Abbas and his advisers had not considered "the consequences [of the decision] and its effects on the situation on the ground".

It was unclear how the president could impose his authority in Gaza where the green flag of the Islamic resistance movement was fluttering on many government buildings in the crowded coastal strip.

"We are telling our people that the past era has ended and will not return," Islam Shahawan, a Hamas spokesman, told the movement's radio station. "The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived."

Qais Abu Leila, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee, said there was determination to take action to stop the "insurrection". "This is a fight to preserve everything that we have built over the last 14 years."

In Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Abbas appointed Salam Fayyad as his new prime minister. Mr Fayyad, who twice served as Palestinian finance minister, worked for the World Bank from 1987 to 1995 and was the International Monetary Fund representative to the Palestinian Authority from 1995 to 2001.

The Bush administration described the Gaza events as "a source of profound concern", accusing Hamas of committing acts of terror. The EU suspended what few aid projects it still maintained there.

The Arab League warned of a "disastrous outcome" to internecine fighting that has been waged on and off for more than six months.

The Hamas victory is widely seen as a boost for Iran and Syria, which have supported the militants, and a painful reversal for the pro-western regimes in Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which worry about the Iranian government's meddling in Iraq and Lebanon, as well as Palestine.

Jordan also fears intra-Palestinian fighting could spread from the West Bank and across the river into the kingdom, where at least half the population is of Palestinian origin. "Things have never been so bad," said one senior Arab diplomat.

The Hamas takeover of the Palestinian Authority's security and military intelligence headquarters came after a three-day siege.

Sources close to the Palestinian president said Israel had ignored repeated requests to allow deliveries of ammunition to Palestinian Authority forces, leaving them outgunned by Hamas who have relied on smuggled munitions.

Last night, Hamas said it had executed the top Fatah militant in Gaza, Samih al-Madhoun.

Witnesses said the conquest of the security headquarters was followed by many executions.

The civil war is rooted in a long-standing power struggle between Hamas, which won elections last year, and Fatah, the historic core of the PLO.

Sources close to the Palestinian president said Israel had ignored repeated requests to allow deliveries of ammunition to Palestinian Authority forces, leaving them outgunned by Hamas who have relied on smuggled munitions." I mean, is it too much for the collaborator to ask for arms from the occupiers, really?

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=871412

ANALYSIS: The West Bank is not the Gaza Strip, Palestinians say
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents

RAMALLAH - The telephone in the senior Fatah official's office in Ramallah began ringing incessantly shortly after 1 P.M. Thursday. His people in Gaza wanted advice on what to do. Hamas gunmen were surrounding their headquarters, the gunfights were growing fiercer. Should they surrender to Hamas, they asked, or continue fighting to the death?

The senior official replied cautiously. "You're in charge," he said. "Do what you think is best."

At one point, the Gazan commander wanted to talk to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and ask his permission to surrender, since they had run out of munitions. But Abbas was busy meeting with the PLO leadership in Ramallah.

A few minutes later, another phone call came from Gaza. This time, the official realized it was over. "If you give in, don't let them take the weapons. Put all rockets and guns in the basement. Burn all the floors and then the basement and cars. When you surrender, don't agree to undress," he ordered his Gazan subordinate.

When his dead and wounded exceeded his remaining fighters, the Gazan commander surrendered.

The fate of Fatah's other headquarters in the Strip was similar. At noon, Hamas conquered Gaza's Preventive Security headquarters, which symbolized Fatah's corruption. But the Hamas group that took it over is already making Gazans miss the days of the corrupt PA, and even the Israeli occupation.

"They're using the same methods as the Israelis, and even worse," a senior Palestinian source said. "They declare an area a closed military zone and shoot anyone who goes out into the street. Hamasniks strip Fatah men they capture, humiliate and beat them. They go from door to door with lists to hunt down Fatah people and execute them."

Fatah's military defeat was mainly caused by the split in the organization, he said: "All the forces are identified with Fatah, but each force fought independently against Hamas, which was united and better trained."

Fatah officials in the West Bank spoke with contempt about Hamas in Gaza. "Let's see how they manage now, after they've won, running things like water and power from Israel," one official said. "How will they cooperate with Israel over the border crossings?"

On Thursday evening, PA Secretary Tayeb Abed al-Rahim announced to the media that Ismail Haniyeh's government had been fired and Abbas had declared an emergency situation. Abbas's associates said that Fatah would arrest Hamas operatives in the West Bank and treat them as an illegal militia.

Israel helped behind the scenes, approving Fatah's requests to move forces and weapons in the West Bank. But the Israel Defense Forces also continued its raids and arrests in the West Bank. This reflects Israel's confusion over events.

The defense establishment is cautious, reluctant to take part in the internal Palestinian war. But it is difficult to know how long this policy will last. Israel will not be able to keep the Gaza crossings closed forever.

Ramallah residents Thursday dismissed the possibility of Hamas taking over the West Bank. In Gaza, "there are tribes and clans like in the Jahiliyyah [pre-Islam] era," said one, Qassem. "Here, in the West Bank, we're more civilized, educated. It's a different nation, not like in Gaza."

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Geplaatst door Coolassprov MC
[url] Qassem. "Here, in the West Bank, we're more civilized, educated. It's a different nation, not like in Gaza."

Heb altijd geloofd in een Palestijnse natie??!!! zijn er 2 dan?....moet er twee ker zo veel geld ingezameld worden dan??!!!