Sunday, February 04, 2007

Singing in the Rain

What is the world coming to when a terrorist can't sleep in peace for fear of being kidnapped by ... rival terrorists ... in Palestine? The Christian Science Monitor describes the worries of  Da'as Kanna, a Fatah militant who kidnapped and later released five Hamas men from downtown Nablus. Why? because Hamas have been kidnapping Fatah men like it was going out of style. Quid pro quo.


Kanna claims to have extracted confessions from the five abductees, but they were released several hours later as a quid pro quo for Hamas's decision to release abductees of their own in Gaza. The militant says he planned to continue the tactic of kidnapping Hamas members to use as bargaining chips.

Over the weekend, Hamas militants landed several blows to Fatah's power base in Gaza, capturing facilities throughout the north belonging to the Fatah-controlled security services of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas fighters abducted on Saturday the nephew of former Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan, one of dozens to be kidnapped in the violence, and on Thursday intercepted trucks believed to be carrying arms to forces loyal to Abbas. Meanwhile, Fatah fighters destroyed laboratories, lecture halls, and a library at Hamas-run Islamic University. They also attacked Gaza's A-Shifa Hospital, thought to be controlled by Hamas.

But no one in Palestine -- or in the UN --  will get too upset about murders, abductions, the destruction of universities or attacks on hospitals as long as the Jews aren't behind it, and for so long as the mayhem stays in Gaza. But if things spread to the West Bank, then things might get a little dicey.

Unlike Gaza, where the sides are thought to be evenly matched, Fatah's superiority in men and arms is undisputed in the West Bank. And yet, Fatah militants are spooked by rumors that Hamas is quietly moving to replicate its Gaza Executive Force, or tanfideyeh, in West Bank.

Bassem Ezbeidi, a Bir Zeit University political science professor, expects the Hamas-Fatah conflict to remain confined to Gaza, but cautions that a West Bank flare-up can't be ruled out. "Fatah has been very provocative by kidnapping," says Mr. Ezbeidi. "Fatah is sending a message that, 'We are strong here and we are reacting to what Hamas is doing in Gaza.' It's a war of messages"

However, Hamas has recently been operating terrorist operations out of the Ministry of Education building in Nablus, which is definitely on the West Bank. But what's the fuss? Operating attack cells out of the Ministry of Education is small potatoes compared to attacking hospitals, which nobody is upset about anyway. Besides, terrorism is a trade in certain places and there is nothing wrong with using a Ministry of Education building for apprenticeships.

Brandishing an M-16, Kanna tells how he got word that a group of masked Hamas gunmen had unleashed a round of bullets near the Nablus municipality a week ago, and fled to the Education Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas. Kanna says the Fatah gunmen attacked the ministry building because it allegedly serves as a training base for the tanfidiyeh.

Unfortunately, the escalating violence may spill over into Israel and compel the IDF to defend Jewish settlers, which is just plain wrong, or at least that's what the UN will say when the apprentices at the Ministry of Education practice their newly acquired skills on a few Jews. But then, even prominent families in Nablus are stocking up on guns and ammunition. Checklist: bottled water, canned food, DVDs, spare mortar tube and baseplate and ample rounds for same, claymores, det cord, C-4, small arms ammunition and rocket propelled grenades.

To be sure, among the West Bank's major cities, Nablus is perhaps the most notorious as a den of crime where young Fatah militants have been making their own laws long before the outbreak of widespread clashes with Hamas. Prominent Nablus families are reported to be hoarding weapons in case of an escalation of internecine violence in the West Bank.

Nothing to worry about. Except kidnapping.

32 Comments:

Blogger allen said...

re: "Nablus are stocking up on guns and ammunition."

Let's be clear, here: those guns and that ammunition are not coming from the 3,000 M-16s and one million rounds recently supplied by Madame Rice to her best ME bud, Abbas. Oh, no, cause that would be wrong, and that's the truth.

Hey, where is the voice of "Fat Cat" Erakat screaming of human rights violations and the intervention of the UN and/or international peace keepers? Hmmm...You would have to see the violation of human rights to make that case...Hmmm

2/04/2007 05:16:00 PM  
Blogger NahnCee said...

It's not at all clear that Palestinians are human in the first place, to have their rights violated.

2/04/2007 05:39:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

nahncee,

They're all too human. But many of the best have left to become doctors, engineers, firemen -- just ordinary people. In other countries. And by a reverse Darwinism the worst are encouraged to stay, being exalted with such titles as "Your Excellency", or "Mister President" or "Chairman"; plus given millions and guns, to boot. It was amazing beyond their wildest dreams. Even the minor thugs can style themselves "Colonel" or "Minister". Then there are the people too illiterate and unfortunate to either flee or become terrorists. For them, life's purpose is to provide collateral damage for higher (that is to say, lower) life forms.

Probably the most surprising day in Yasser Arafat's long life was the hour in which, to his astonishment, a wide variety of ambassadors, presidents, premiers, kings, queens, princes, rockstars, movie personalities, envoys extraordinary and plenipotentiary came calling at his doorstep. People he never thought to see, knowing himself to be what he was: a piece of no-account low-life. He would have been happy to see a hangman and got the Jet Set instead. He must have thought standing on the White House lawn a huge practical joke, though he helped himself to canapes. But as Forrest Gump once said, "life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what it will give you."

2/04/2007 06:50:00 PM  
Blogger What is "Occupation" said...

The people "palestine" are an artificial construct. They hav no real istory or culture that has been or invented in the last 50 or so years.

Now after all this time the true mask of thuggery is being exposed.

They are all to human, to me, human ANIMALS, (as in the correct reading of the garden of eden story)however they are not human "beings", they have a created culture of death, murder, suicide & hatred. They lack a developed "higher soul", not to say a person of this origin cannot develop a higher human being "soul" (and many have, they live in the USA) but what is left is a reverse darwin, allowing the least mentally fit to thrive..

soon, their fake culture and tribalism shall destroy themselves and those that have supported and "helped" this abortion of human society to be...

2/04/2007 07:48:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

A couple theards back, some of us had fun at the expense of the well-deserving Mr. Arkin. Other than Malkin, I’m not seeing much coverage or outrage at the abuse of the troops by the Bush administration. Specifically, I reference the outrage perpetrated on the corpse and family of Staff Sgt. Hector Leija by the New York Times. and frankly, I have seen Malkin far more incensed by a whole lot less. For the violation of the Staff Sgt. et al, the Times people will no longer embed with his unit. This pathetic response to another NYT provocation is typical of this administration; an administration and a country unworthy of “mercenaries” such as Staff Sgt. Hector Leija.

Lt. Gen. Odierno writes to the NYTimes

We get no respect because we deserve none.

2/04/2007 07:50:00 PM  
Blogger jeff's thoughts said...

Once the history books have been written the most tragic thing for the Palistinian people will be the "Oslo Accords". It allowed Arafat and his corrupt band of thugs into power into Palistine vs. the indiginous Palistinians who lead the first intifada and gained moral creditbility. This civil war is the result of the corruption of Palistinian society which the West allowed. If the Israelis had cut a deal with the local leaders the chances would have been better for a more normal Palistinian state. Right of return or not, facts on the ground would have been a better way to resolving this matter.

But hindsight is 20/20 and now the Palistinians and by extension Israel will have to deal with the destroyed society created by Arafat.

One of the best things that could happen to the Palistinians would be the disbandment of the UN commision on Palistinian refugees. They have a homeland let them all go back. Those that go willing get the west bank. Those who resist get to go to GAZA.

2/04/2007 07:53:00 PM  
Blogger Fat Man said...

If Hamas is getting the upper hand, then the US is right to supply Fatah. Wouldn't one side to have an unfair advantage, would we?;-)

2/04/2007 07:56:00 PM  
Blogger jeff's thoughts said...

What is Occupation, you argue that the Palistian construct (read society) is a false one. In 1948 that may have been true but due to indoctrination and politized apartheid (UN refugee commitee) they have gained a political conciousness. Is it fair? Is it legitimate? No but it is real. They think of themselves as Palestinians, not Jordanians, Lebanese, or Arab Uhmmah but Palestinians. I know because I know some and they have politically called themselves Palestinians.

Arguing from old constructs will not address the reality on the ground. There is a group of people who are in the midst of a civil war. Like the American Civil War it is one that has to be fought out. The threat of the civil war is not to the West but to the Arab community. That is why Saudia Arabia is trying to stifle the war. It can shake the current corrupt order of Sunni world and they are genuinely frightened.

Moreso once they found some Iranians in training positions.

2/04/2007 08:02:00 PM  
Blogger Captain USpace said...

Good news, what goes around comes around...

absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
never retaliate...
.

2/04/2007 08:05:00 PM  
Blogger jeff's thoughts said...

One thing about civil wars that if you get involved you need to pick a winner and make sure they win. The west hasn't truely picked it's winner and is not backing them fully.

My concern is that Fatah will fold like a cheap suit and the Islamic fablists will claim another victory over the Crusders because they were "pure enough" to gain Allah's approval.

In my opinion it is best not to get too deeply involved with this fight because neither dog is worth backing.

2/04/2007 08:07:00 PM  
Blogger 3Case said...

"It's not at all clear that Palestinians are human in the first place...."

There I was, 33 years ago, hangin' in the back of some economics classes at my large Northeastern University with some guys from Egypt and Iran, who, after they figured out I could hold in my head the difference between an Arab and a Persian, revealed to me the sentiment of nahncee's statement and then carefully explained to me that the Palestinians were nothing more than useful tools with which to harry the Jews.

2/04/2007 09:32:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

For additional information on what is transpiring in the PA, see:
jpost.com

2/04/2007 09:41:00 PM  
Blogger Alexis said...

In the history of this war, one key episode happened today during the Fourth Quarter of Super Bowl XLI. It was a beer commercial. You can see it online.

http://sports.aol.com/nfl/superbowlads

(When you get to this address, go to “Browse by Quarter”, click on “Fourth Quarter”, and then click on “Budweiser: Crabs”.)

Now, does this look anything like Muslims at prayer?

When I saw this, I gasped because I understood the social reference. Making a mockery of Islam was something I didn’t think a beer company would have the nerve to do. Sure, it has plausible deniability, just as the French film Pontcarvel had plausible deniability for its criticism of Vichy during World War II.

Yet, there it is -- a beer commercial that satirizes Muslims at prayer. Is CAIR planning protests? Are mosque preachers in Gaza, Copenhagen, Islamabad, London, Cologne, and Beirut prepared to incite riots over a beer commercial for a Super Bowl in a sport most Muslims don’t understand, let alone watch or play? That remains to be seen.

Either Islamists will look silly protesting an advertisement that doesn't overtly satirize Islam or they will concede an entire portion of the psychological battlefield to their opponents.

2/04/2007 10:13:00 PM  
Blogger What is "Occupation" said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

2/04/2007 10:25:00 PM  
Blogger What is "Occupation" said...

all praise budwieser!

the bud is great!

salvation thru a cold one...

submit to the frothy one...

gosh it SOO cold and HARD....

You can go blind looking right at it...

2/04/2007 10:27:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

what is "occupation",

Budweiser! That's not beer. Now, the Czechs and the Germans brew beer. Sam Adams sometimes brews passable beer. But, Budweiser!
;-)

You have been well?

2/04/2007 10:55:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

Meanwhile, in war news elsewhere, the pressure on the Taliban remains unrelenting.
NATO Urges Taliban to Leave Afghan Town

So, take that you big meanies!

2/05/2007 07:04:00 AM  
Blogger 3Case said...

1. Looked like a Stonehenge/Druid reference to me...the alignment with the Sun thing n' all. Will we be overrun with rampaging militant Druids now?

2. Muslims are forbidden alcohol. They just have not got far enough to make that a centerpiece of their public relations, yet..."We've come to take your beer."...that ought to start quite a "discussion".

2/05/2007 07:05:00 AM  
Blogger Harrison said...

allen, I couldn't help but laugh when I read this from the link you provided:

The latest cease-fire - the ninth in the past two months - was reached with the help of Egyptian security officials based in the Gaza Strip.

The seven-point deal calls for withdrawing all militiamen from the streets and rooftops, deploying PA policemen in troubled areas to impose law and order, releasing all those who were kidnapped by both sides and ending the war of words between the two parties.


Of course, it is merely a 'war of words'! So that's why they find it perfectly legit to operate outside the boundaries of the cease-fire, firing at each other and kidnapping people left and right. Cease-fire to them means both sides shut themselves up and do away with the reconciliatory rhetoric (because everyone knows it's contrived, and nobody thinks it's necessary to pander to the UN anymore).

According to the article, even hospitals and universities are valid targets for both sides now. The extent of this civil war has metastasised from eliminating military infrastructure in order to cripple the military capabilities of the adversary to a perverse contest to see who can tear the country apart, drive its citizens insane (or at least indoctrinated) and make it unbearable for the other side to coexist.

A hospital ceases to be a hospital once insurgents are exploiting it as a harbouring ground. So goes the same for ministries, academic and civil institutions. Where is the state in all this? In fact, the "state" is a fantastical construct of those who still believe there will be anything worth salvaging once these ravenous brutes are done with rendering Palestine asunder - that is, if they manage to stop at all.

2/05/2007 08:25:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

harrison,

re: Where is the state in all this?

Since Hamas is the democratically elected voice of the people, Hamas is the state. The lawful empowerment of Hamas was a shock to Dr. Rice; she remains in a state of dysfunctional denial.

Oh, Welcome to Palestine! Do you take .223 or 7.63.

2/05/2007 08:55:00 AM  
Blogger 3Case said...

"Oh, Welcome to Palestine! Do you take .223 or 7.63."

...Would you like tracers wi' dat?

2/05/2007 09:46:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

This morning, Andrew McCarthy beat the Punky Bush administration about the head and shoulders.

“Now, the confusion is manifesting itself in spasms of gibberish over another self-imposed wound: To release or not release evidence that Iran is stoking the violence in Iraq.”

“So we are delaying on the dossier, lest the truth impel consequences for which we are evidently unprepared. And after finally taking what looked like some forceful steps to address long-standing Iranian offenses, U.S. officials are once again mumbling about the mullahs playing a positive role in Iraq, and about how we really don’t want any trouble with them.”

“Witness the seeming schizophrenia from Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Saturday’s Los Angeles Times.”

“So, the Iranians (and Syrians) are committing acts of war against us and materially contributing to the chaos the United States is now sacrificing blood and treasure trying to stop ... but let’s not fret too much over a few extra dead Americans since the chaos would be happening whether or not the Iranians were stoking it.”

What’s Our Iran Policy?

This administration should be removed, promptly, as the matter of national security.

2/05/2007 10:34:00 AM  
Blogger Habu said...

Al lah have a Bud !

2/05/2007 10:39:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

Let’s see, you are the government of Kenya and you have in custody jihadist foreign nationals, arrested upon illegally entering your country while fleeing the forces of the lawful government of Somalia, upon whom same jihadists had waged an unlawful war, so, what do you do, what do you do?

1) Turn the scumbags over to the government of Somalia.

2) Tell the State Department to “bite it.”

Two American Muslims Arrested in Kenya Fighting for Somalia

From LGF

***

2/05/2007 11:01:00 AM  
Blogger Habu said...

If you want to have some fun get into the discussion with some socialists at "The Scotsman" a paper in Scotland or central England..
They think we did 9-11 ourselves, that we still have slaves etc..it's a hoot

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=186532007#new

2/05/2007 12:28:00 PM  
Blogger Alexis said...

BTW, the Budweiser Super Bowl Commercial can now be seen on YouTube.

3case: You're right about a "Stonehenge" overtone. However, look at the posture of the crabs as they prayed in the direction of the cooler of Budweiser. It's just like how Muslims look when they pray toward Mecca.

Although Muslims are not allowed to drink beer in this life, they are promised alcohol in their afterlife. The Quran explicitly promises martyrs rivers of wine for their enjoyment after they die. Although rivers of beer aren't referred to explicitly in the Quran, I find it difficult to imagine how the Paradise imagined by Muslims would deny them the delights of beer during their afterlives. The question of whether the "aroma of paradise" in the Muslim afterlife would include beer such as Budweiser is open to debate, though.

2/05/2007 01:10:00 PM  
Blogger Mike H. said...

Alexis, what a thought, a bunch of drunk, fornicating killers in heaven.

God didn't mention that when he offered me salvation in the name of Christ.

Everything that is considered sin down here is no longer evil in heaven. There's something wrong with that picture.

Evidently in Islam Satan is on the wait staff and one of the good ol' boys.

2/05/2007 03:21:00 PM  
Blogger DB2 said...

A German social scientist (Gunnar Heinsohn) has taken an old truism of American policing, and applied it on a global scale, to explain why there is terrorism and war in so many places. Heinsohn's theory is that when there are too many young men in a country, there will be more violence. This was noted by American crime researchers decades ago.

Youth and war, a deadly duo
www.ft.com/cms/s/652fa2f6-9d2a-11db-8ec6-0000779e2340.html

Gangland slayings in the Palestinian territories this week have pitted the Islamist gunmen of Hamas against the secular forces of Fatah. The killings defy civilised norms: in December even children were targeted for murder. But the killings also defy political common sense. Ariel Sharon's wall cuts terrorists off from Israeli targets and what happens? The violence - previously justified with the cause of a Palestinian homeland - continues as if nothing had changed, merely finding its outlet in a new set of targets. This makes it appear that Palestinian violence has never really been about a "cause" at all. The violence is, in a strange way, about itself.

Gunnar Heinsohn, a social scientist and genocide researcher at the University of Bremen, has an explanation for why this might be so. Since its publication in 2003, his eccentric and eye-opening Sons and World Power* (not available in English) has become something of a cult book. In Mr Heinsohn's view, when 15 to 29-year-olds make up more than 30 per cent of the population, violence tends to happen; when large percentages are under 15, violence is often imminent. The "causes" in the name of which that violence is committed can be immaterial. There are 67 countries in the world with such "youth bulges" now and 60 of them are undergoing some kind of civil war or mass killing.

DB2

2/05/2007 03:34:00 PM  
Blogger John Schulien said...

One thing about civil wars that if you get involved you need to pick a winner and make sure they win.

In war, one cannot "pick a winner and make sure they win." One can, however, pick a loser and make sure they lose.

It is important to distinguish between the two.

2/05/2007 04:18:00 PM  
Blogger sam said...

In addition to Meshal, the Hamas delegation also includes Mahmoud al-Zahar, the current government's prime minister, and senior figures of the Hamas leadership abroad.

During the two days of the summit, the site where the delegations will stay and hold their meetings will remain off-limits to the press.

Meanwhile, in Ramallah, Fatah's Revolutionary Council announced that it was suspending its meetings this week in view of the summit in Mecca. However, the council warned that if the talks fail, it will resume its meetings, which are dealing with Abbas' threat to hold early elections unless a unity government is established.


Government Deal

2/05/2007 04:29:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

It's not a civil war in Palistan. In a civil war everyone takes sides, everyone has a gun, and everyone shoots at their enemy. In Palistan it's a turf war between two militias, or two gangs.

Their purpose is to gain control over the other side. The average man on the street has no gun and isn't part of this.

I won't say there's no difference between the two sides but basically they're two street gangs battling over turf.

This hurts the Saudis and the Iranians more than Israel.

2/06/2007 03:18:00 PM  
Blogger Jonathan Siberry said...

there all humans, they just believe in something different

there is no conflic without 2 opinions

im not saying there are right and we are wrong, im just saying they are still humans, and if the tables were turned and americans started kidnapping americans then we would be the same

its like this one argument i had last week over a vauxhall part (yes a vauxhall part...a gearbox to be correct).

I was in a garage and my gearbox needed changing. I can get the vauxhall part for 120 GBP, however the garage wants to charge me 300 GBP, thats over 120% of the original value.

I think he is practically stealing from me but he is making a living and although the part costs 120 GBP he has to pay his workers, rent on the building etc and i am more paying for his experteas.

The argument over the vauxhall part went on for a hour or so before i realised no one is right but were both right just with different opinions.

I know comparing terrorirst to vauxhall car parts is not the same, however terrorist believe in their cause, right or wrong, but eitherway they are humans and have rights. if they have broken the law then deal with it accordingly like you would an american.

2/08/2007 03:02:00 AM  

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