by Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah
11 October 2006 Electronic Intifada
There are ominous signs that the long-contemplated plan to overthrow the democratically-elected Hamas-led Palestinian Authority cabinet is about to enter its most dangerous phase: a political coup, supported by local militias, with foreign and regional backing. This could ignite serious intra-Palestinian violence. With Iraq providing a dreadful warning of how foreign occupation can foster civil bloodshed, everything must be done to expose and thwart this dangerous conspiracy.
The head of Palestinian Authority intelligence, and Fatah militia leader, Tawfiq Tirawi, said in an interview with the Sunday Times on 8 October, “We are already at the beginning of a civil war, no doubt about it. They (Hamas) are accumulating weapons and a full-scale civil war can break out at any moment.” The paper cited Palestinian sources saying that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas “has notified the US, Jordan and Egypt that he is preparing to take action against Hamas.” And, asserting that Hamas “are preparing for a war against us,” Tirawi “forecasts that the violence would begin in Gaza and spread to the West Bank.” Hamas leaders, including prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, have issued strenuous reassurances that they will never allow civil war, even as a Fatah-affiliated militia recently released a statement explicitly threatening to assassinate them.
Let us recall that in last January’s legislative council elections the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, resoundingly defeated Fatah, the nominally nationalist and secular faction founded by Yasir Arafat and which has dominated the institutionalized Palestinian movement since the 1960s. Fatah, led now by Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, was widely rejected for its corruption and mismanagement of the Palestinian Authority which was founded under the Oslo Accords in 1994. [More]
Hamas’s path to reinvention
Khaled Hroub
10 October 2006 openDemocracy
An internal shift from religion-based to politics-defined struggle is reshaping Hamas’s identity. Khaled Hroub, author of “Hamas: A Beginner’s Guide”, explains how it has happened and criticises the west’s failure to understand this key Palestinian trend. [More]