Desert Pundit

Gaza, again and again!

I have said before that in Palestine, there is never a dull moment, and the last few days has been far from dull.

I have to say that I was dismayed by the attack on the Israeli base, because it was outside of Gaza, so in front of everybody, they left our internationally recognized area and we crossed over to their territory and attacked them. Also, the people who have done this wanted to abort the national dialogue and now completed national consensus on recognizing the reality of Israel existence, so it was directed more internally than externally.

The people who did this, brave as they maybe, did not stop to think of the repercussions this will bring to the people of Gaza. I was horrified to see the bridges and power station hit, and responsibility clearly lies with the Israelis, but those geniuses in Hamas could clearly foresee a harsh reaction that spread the suffering upon the civilian population, as if they needed any more.

Also, it is totally ludicrous to think that they are in the same negotiating position as Hezbollah regarding the kidnapped soldier, unlike Lebanon, Israel hold the whole Palestinian population as a hostage by the reality of occupation in the West Bank and the surrounding of Gaza and control of its airspace and shores. So it is quite easy for the Israelis to refuse to negotiate and start hitting civilian facilities and say we will only stop once you return the soldier. I am not a defeatist, but you should only play a game you have a chance at winning.

This development have shown a big fissure between Hamas the political entity inside Palestine and outside leadership and the militia they control inside Gaza primarily. The prime minister was reduced to pleading with his own organization to release the Israeli soldier. The Hamas government are now tasting some of their own medicine, the same disruptive process they applied to the Late Yasser Arafat is now applied to them by their own people.

I am just sad and angry (and worried about my father who is in Gaza at the moment), because somebody with a non-Palestinian agenda sitting outside Palestine has made a decision that will impact more than a million Palestinians in Gaza negatively, and they defend this decision on TV screens without flinching, shame.

posted by Desert Pundit @ 3:03 AM