In a story in the Egyptian Al-Ahram Weekly, the Israeli government is accused of ?deliberately setting off dynamics among Palestinians that augur implosion as much as explosion.? In the article, Palestinian analyst Abdullah Hourani points to a schism between the Arab ?street? and the political leadership. The street is backing Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, even to the extent of carrying out independent actions inspired by the Islamist groups. "The argument of Hamas,? says Hourani, ?is that it is easier to hit Tel Aviv than the settlements. But the cost in punishment outweighs the benefit. We should rather concentrate our resistance against the soldiers and settlers in the occupied territories. In this way we can keep international support.?
It is Israel?s preemptive strikes that have sown the seeds of dissidence among the Palestinian Arabs, Al-Ahram states. But another effect of the precision strikes is a growing paranoia over collaborators, real or alleged, as was witnessed by the spate of killings of alleged ?collaborators? following the targeted killing of two six Hamas activists in Shechem. After a previous such Israeli raid in Bethlehem, PA police arrested 50 Christian Arabs "for their own protection," according to a quoted PA source, because a rumour spread through the city Christians had betrayed the Hamas men. Three Arabs suspected of ?collaboration? were lynched over the next few days in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Ramallah.
The supposed search for collaborators, however, can often merely be cover for gang warfare and Arab blood feuds. In late July, members of the Hasin family near Khan Yunis killed Anwar Jouref, an officer in the PA's Preventive Security services, in revenge for Jouref's killing of a member of the Hasin clan in 1991. The town quickly descended into tribalism, with PA security services comprising the Jouref militia and the Gaza Chief of Police providing ?protection? for the Hasin family. An immediate result of the armed clashes was nine Palestinian Arabs dead and 22 injured. Al Ahram reports that eyewitnesses saw ?14-year old boys, from one clan or the other, roaming the streets armed with machine guns, checking their elders' identity papers.?
The newspaper quotes a local Arab doctor who said, ?We can survive Sharon's war against us. We will not survive a war among ourselves.?
It is Israel?s preemptive strikes that have sown the seeds of dissidence among the Palestinian Arabs, Al-Ahram states. But another effect of the precision strikes is a growing paranoia over collaborators, real or alleged, as was witnessed by the spate of killings of alleged ?collaborators? following the targeted killing of two six Hamas activists in Shechem. After a previous such Israeli raid in Bethlehem, PA police arrested 50 Christian Arabs "for their own protection," according to a quoted PA source, because a rumour spread through the city Christians had betrayed the Hamas men. Three Arabs suspected of ?collaboration? were lynched over the next few days in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Ramallah.
The supposed search for collaborators, however, can often merely be cover for gang warfare and Arab blood feuds. In late July, members of the Hasin family near Khan Yunis killed Anwar Jouref, an officer in the PA's Preventive Security services, in revenge for Jouref's killing of a member of the Hasin clan in 1991. The town quickly descended into tribalism, with PA security services comprising the Jouref militia and the Gaza Chief of Police providing ?protection? for the Hasin family. An immediate result of the armed clashes was nine Palestinian Arabs dead and 22 injured. Al Ahram reports that eyewitnesses saw ?14-year old boys, from one clan or the other, roaming the streets armed with machine guns, checking their elders' identity papers.?
The newspaper quotes a local Arab doctor who said, ?We can survive Sharon's war against us. We will not survive a war among ourselves.?