Abbas has made several potentially important statements and movements in the last couple of weeks. Last week, for instance, he announced that moves would be made to try to stop the rockets flying across the Gaza border, calling them counterproductive and damaging to the Palestinian cause. Uh well, yeah that’s as plain as the nose on your face! Today he announced that Fatah will cut its ties with Hezbollah. Very admirable moves and both very necessary if there is any potential for discussions of peace and negotiations between Israel and the PA and very necessary for improving the daily lives of the Palestinians as well.
Applaud, support, but nobody get up and start passing around the peace is on its way champagne just yet. Not by a long shot. The words are good and encouraging. It very much remains to be seen whether Abbas will follow the words with real actions. More importantly, it is far from clear that he will have the ability to act on his words, no matter how good the intention. In fact, given the current situation on that side of the desert, it is highly unlikely.
Already the incitement brigades are hard at work. Islamic Jihad and the others –fully backed under the table by Hamas –are claiming that not only will they not stop the rocket attacks but that they will increase them. Given that they’ve broken the theoretical truce in Gaza by firing nearly 200 rockets at us since the truce went into effect, they seem to have the motivation to continue doing so all by themselves but now the motivation is even stronger –not to the better get at us zionist enemies, you understand, but to get at Abbas and at Fatah. The internal power struggles –and the assumption that it is only a two-way power struggle would be very wrong — in the Palestinian Territories has by no means taken a back seat. It is front and center, running deep and wide. We Israelis can expect all kinds of heightened attempts at terror attacks of all kinds, be it rockets, bombings, stabbings, shootings, kidnapping attempts, you name its starting basically as soon as those words left Abbas’s mouth. We will be the bystanders attacked as the proxies for the real target –the wresting of full political power from Abbas and Fatah. And of course the subsidiary power struggles between clan and clan, minor militant group against minor and against major.
Palestinians should also hold onto their hats –and find some basements to hide out in –because I’d wager that the gun battles and assassination attempts going on in Gaza without cease already between Fatah and Hamas, clan against clan, will also likely heat up in the coming weeks.
[...] Based off of recent statements from Abbas, Aliyah advises: “Palestinians should also hold onto their hats –and find some basements to hide out in –because I’d wager that the gun battles and assassination attempts going on in Gaza without cease already between Fatah and Hamas, clan against clan, will also likely heat up in the coming weeks.” Deborah Ann Dilley [...]
For the sake of everyone involved on both sides of the border, I hope that calm will prevail and that no harm will come to anyone. It is the thugs and fanatics that are wrecking prospects for peace and prosperity.