Palestinians at war as blood feuds follow Israeli pullout Law and order has collapsed in Gaza ahead of elections this month. Powerful clans, suddenly without a common enemy to unite them, are killing each other and seeking to sweep aside the heirs of Arafat, condemned as weak and corrupt.
It’s a mischaracterization to say that “the law and order has collapsed”. It implies that at some point there was law and order in place. The only law and order that was ever in place there was maintained by some form of a civilized society (Britons or the Israelis). But the zoo-keeper is gone now. They wanted “freedom, independence, and the right for self-determination”. Had they told the Israelis what they wanted it for, they would’ve pulled out earlier.
The clan wars are the most visible sign of the disintegration of the Palestinian political and social order in the narrow, hemmed-in urban crush that is Gaza. As Palestine's politicians prepare to go to the polls on 25 January, their supporting groups are also preparing for a political war. And rival factions of the armed groups that confronted the Israeli army and the Jewish settlers before their withdrawal six months ago are in conflict with each other and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). On top of that, a spate of kidnappings of foreigners, motivated by petty local complaints, has drawn attention to Gaza's slow collapse.
Wait, wait… Till now, they tearfully used to say, that it was the evil Israelis that drove them to terrorism, and therefore, their vile acts were justified. Now what? The neighbor’s stereo is too loud?
It is the family wars that best underline the escalating sense of crisis. Guns and bombs, not the courts and police, have become the medium for restitution. Nasser Shabbat, a community leader in Beit Hanoun, blames the authority for the conditions spawning the violence.
I find absolutely nothing surprising there, except for maybe one thing: they’re not blaming the Israelis (yet). On the other hand, nobody is rushing to take responsibility for any of it either, so I guess the world still makes sense.
But more complex issues are at work. Since the Israeli withdrawal ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the unity of rival groups against the occupation has collapsed, and the young former fighters have turned their violence within. In the Kamal Edwan hospital … one gunman was killed in an intensive care unit by rival fighters.
“… I've told staff, if they think there is a risk of fighting, to leave them to kill each other outside.”
No comment necessary.
'This will never end,' says one who called himself Abu Nahed. 'The weak will be hit by the strong, because there is no one to protect them.'
Hm… I think I recall reading something similar to this before… Oh, yes, in my Biology classes. Darwin! Right, that’s how it works in the animal kingdom.
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