Gaga over Gaza
The Christian Science Monitor sees the Hamas victory over Fatah and its isolation in Gaza as Israel’s problem. I’m not sure why.   Â
Whatever humanitarian crisis happens in Gaza is Hamas’ doing.  Israel will allow aid in … presumeably provided Hamas doesn’t force the closure of the border crossing by shooting it up as someone did to, or by firing rockets into Israeli towns. Hamas is in a box. As Stratfor notes below, Hamas has overplayed its hand. Abbas, on the other hand, probably can’t believe how good everything just got.
Here are some people who stand to make a killing off this situation.
Stratfor is of the opinion that Hamas will now start making nice, and arrange the release of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, maybe even Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit.Â
… now that Hamas has overplayed its hand in Gaza and is facing a serious risk of isolation, the group’s leaders are desperately attempting to show that it can be a responsible political player as long as it is given the chance to govern.
… Hamas also is trumpeting up the threat of jihadist forces taking root in Gaza to get the West to believe that any attempts to undermine Hamas’ legitimacy and internal cohesion will allow jihadists to make inroads into the Palestinian territories and present a larger problem down the road for Israel and its neighbors. If Hamas can show it can exert influence over — or use force against — this apparent jihadist group holding Johnston, it will be signaling that it has what it takes to rein in militants with an affinity for transnational jihadism.
But securing Johnston’s release is not going to be easy, particularly since Hamas will face a tough time counterbalancing other Islamist militant groups that recently have sprouted in Gaza. It would not be beyond Hamas to have set up some of these jihadist groups as front organizations to carry out attacks against Israel and only later to crack down on them to demonstrate its ability to rein them in.
Even Stratfor is calling terrorists “militants” now, as taking hostages and purposefully targeting civilians with suicide bombs and rockets was some kind of justifiable militarized for of protest. The ability to see that kind of behavior as meriting a polite terminology may be why Stratfor is expecting rational behavior out of Hamas.
Topics: Palestinians
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:48 am on Tuesday, June 19, 2007
7 Responses to “Gaga over Gaza”
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June 19th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Well…if Hamas isn’t Israel’s problem, they sure ain’t America’s problem.
Nice to know.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:27 am
It is by calling Fatah “moderate”, and by calling terrorists “militants” that the evil is allowed to continue. Only this perversion of language, the refusal to define the enemy, do we allow ourselves to continue the immoral support of terrorism. Rushing to back Abbas is the same as saving Arafat when the Israelis had him cornered — look at the years of suffering on all sides that that act has caused. We learn nothing.
June 19th, 2007 at 6:12 am
I was under the impression that Gaza was on the Mediterranean. Why does aid have to come through Israel? Can’t it get there via Egypt or the sea? Israel should lock down the border crossings and toss the key.
June 19th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Why should there be any aid at all? Bottle them up, cut off the funds, and wait.
Why, why, why are we suddenly buddies with Abbas again? Are we incapable of learning our lesson?
June 19th, 2007 at 10:27 am
Web Reconnaissance 06/19/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:54 am
“I was under the impression that Gaza was on the Mediterranean. Why does aid have to come through Israel? Can’t it get there via Egypt or the sea?”
Gaza is really just one long beach without much in the way of porting. Israel patrols the Gaza coast closely but they can’t deny it effectively to small fast boatsy - the arms come from somewhere, but overland is really the only way to get large amounts of aid in.
Both Hamas and Fatah ARE Israel, the US, and every other smart country’s problem, but controlling Hamas on Fatah’s behalf is not Israel’s responsibility. The Palestinians voted Hamas power and have to live with the choice they made or vote once again with their feet.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:57 am
By the way, there is a lot of upside to having all the demons in one hell. Let the people who want out into the West Bank after vetting them and let Hamas and Fatah consume each other.