How's That Palestinian State Thingy Working Out For Ya?

Hurry, Book Your Beautiful, Downtown Gaza Vacation, Now!
Well, at least we know that it’s not just with Israel that the Palestinians have trouble honoring a truce. They can’t seem to manage it between themselves, either.

On Friday, the Associated Press reported that gunmen loyal to Fatah attacked a Hamas- affiliated university and Hamas gunmen attacked a Fatah-affiliated university, between them killing 17 people, including four children. And then the two sides called a truce.

It’s the second cease-fire between the rival hoodlum gangs in about a week, and I expect this one will be as effective as the last one was.

The last one collapsed under the weight of mortar shells, rockets and heavy gun fire in the streets of Gaza, which left two dozen Palestinians dead and about 250 wounded.

Despite what seems to me to be ample evidence that this is a bunch of people perhaps better suited to custodial confinement than statehood, the so-called Quartet of Mideast negotiators met Friday to explore ways to jump-start peacemaking, because Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finds “no reason to avoid the subject of how we get to a Palestinian state.”

I wonder if she might notice a reason if the wild, wild east were playing out in her neighborhood streets instead of throughout the Palestinian-Arab-occupied territories on Israel’s proverbial back porch.The AP story described “frightened Gazans huddled in their homes Friday as gunmen battled in the streets. Civilians who did venture outside took cover from the crossfire at the entrances to shuttered stores, or cowered behind walls.”

Casualties were so high that “hospitals ran out of ambulances and people were forced to evacuate the wounded in private cars, carrying bloodied victims in their arms to the emergency room. One man carried in a boy who was shot in the head and later died of his wounds,” the story said.

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in internal violence since the Islamic terrorist group Hamas won parliamentary elections last year.

Last week, some Palestinians were inspired to send a young man to commit murder/suicide by blowing up some innocent Israelis minding their own business in a bakery in the hope that the rest of the pack would follow suit. But the feeding frenzy is so intense, even the old tried-and-true Jew killing gambit failed to divert it.

Fatah fighters Friday stormed Hamas’ Islamic University in Gaza City, setting fire to two buildings and shooting it out with Hamas forces. Masked men in black uniforms ran through the campus and took up positions on the school’s mosque’s roof.

Vowing revenge, Hamas gunmen hours later attacked two buildings of the Fatah-affiliated Al-Quds University in Gaza, firing mortar rounds at a building and dousing it with fuel as gunmen clashed outside.

The story describes “frantic Gazans” calling “local radio stations asking for help as armed men took position on their rooftops.” And, making matters worse, most of Gaza City remained dark after electrical facilities were damaged in gun battles a day earlier.

Meanwhile Friday, Hamas gunmen blew up a Fatah-affiliated radio station after a five-hour siege and in Gaza City, 50 officers from Abbas’ presidential guard surrounded the Hamas-led Interior Ministry and exchanged fire with Hamas gunmen. Also, Hamas militants launched mortar rounds at a Fatah training base, wounding 30 recruits. One shell hit a nearby house and wounded two children.

But now they have a truce. That’s nice. But since these are the same folks who consider blowing up a bus full of people acceptable behavior under a cease-fire agreement, I wouldn’t plan a day trip to Gaza anytime soon.

http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2007/02/02/hurry-book-your-beautiful-downtown-gaza-vacation-now/