Israel-Hamas

[Catwoman]

Sure hope you all caught 60 Minutes tonight.  Amazing stuff. 

[Warph]

This is something for us all to ponder......  A different, important take on a current situation.

A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II owned a number of large industries and estates.  When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

"Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care.  I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools.  So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen.  Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come.  My family lost everything.  I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

We are told again and again by the MSM left, "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.

Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant.  It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.  The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam
at this moment in history.

It is the fanatics who march.  It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.

It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.

It is the fanatics who send in the "Suicide Bombers" to kill innocent Arab-Israeli men, women and children.

It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor-kill.

It is the fanatics who take over mosque's, schools, hospitals, and homes of innocent people, hiding their WMD within their wall..

It is the fanatics who slaughter Jews, Christians and their own women and children.

It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals.

The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority," the "silent majority" is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia comprised Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people.  The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

China's huge population; it was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist.  Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel and bayonet.

And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery.  Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: basic Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.

Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like the Man from Germany, they will awake one day and find, for instance,  in Dearborn, MI....  Minneapolis, MN..... and other cities across our nation, that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.  Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention to the only group that counts: the fanatics who threaten our way of life. 
 
Isn't it remarkable that it has come to this?  How far down the blind alley will the Arab leaders march.  They offer everything to their masses except peace.  Look back at all of the opportunities lost and understand future consequences become more dire.  Perhaps it is an indictment of mankind as a specie.  Will the Arab Nations always stop short of enlightenment and compassion?  Probably.  They always seen to wind back up at square one.  Honesty and transparency are not signs of weakness.  They are measures of character.  If only there was one Arab nation that would embrace this.  But it will probably never happen in my lifetime and yours.  I hope I'm wrong.  We need to start looking for a new paradigm for the sake of the children and this fragile planet.

The question concerning Israel's existence is and has always been linked in some way to post-Cold War conflicts, involving Muslims.  There is no more room for decades long debate on how to handle the spread of bad religious interpretations, which depend on terrorist activity in spreading their supremacist message.  At the center of Islamic defiance towards International law, is the theocracy of Iran.  Once the government of Iran headed by the Supreme Leader is destroyed, there might be a glimmer of hope that lives in the eyes of terrorists will eventually fade.  But I doubt this, too.
 
If there was ever an Ally, Israel has shown itself to be courageous, full of strength and honor, and to be using cutting edge technology and methods.  However, even when Israel had little technology, it fought with its courage and intelligence.  Today, they are a Democracy in the midst of chaos, and yet they hold their heads high and do everything imaginable to contain the difficulties of being a nation in the middle east.  Israel is a small but strong Ally, and that alone will help it survive as an American Friend, but more so than its strength, Americans should look at its values, its honor, its truth.  Contrary to what Israels critics say, they are not a war mongering state, despite the situations that has required them to be militarily prepared.  Yet, by the same token, they do not ignore their responsibility to defend themselves. 

They are an oasis in the center of a desert of chaos and irrationality.

Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the Israeli-Arab issue is serious  can contribute to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand.


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3099440,00.html
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3071736,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_suicide_bombers_in_the_Israeli-Palestinian_conflict
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1013175.html
http://www.newser.com/story/46737/iranian-suicide-bombers-want-govts-ok-to-attack-israel.html
http://www.israelnews.net/story/445238
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,461865,00.html

......Warph

[pam]

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
-Gandhi

[Catwoman]

Warph, that post was excellent.  I have always said that silence implies consent...which is probably why I have never remained silent...much to most people's chagrin! lol   There is a great deal of evil out in the world right now...and it's going to take every sane, compassionate person's voice raised in protest before this world sees any changes made.  You know...there were plenty of people over in Germany who voiced objections to what the Nazis were doing...and ended up going to the gas chambers for their efforts.  However, they still made those objections, knowing that it was the right thing to do, in spite of the personal danger it presented.  We'll hope that the spectre of the fatwa doesn't keep moderate Islamics from speaking up.  I have been much encouraged by some of the things I have seen happening in the past two weeks...The Iraqis have graduated their first class of female cops (this, in a male-dominant society...never thought I'd see the day), for one.  Another one would be the passing of the $819 billion dollar bill today...we'll hope that it brings hope and greater security to our troubled economy. 

[Diane Amberg]

Warph, good writing. You're a real Mensch.

[Warph]

Warph, that post was excellent.  I have always said that silence implies consent...which is probably why I have never remained silent...much to most people's chagrin! lol   There is a great deal of evil out in the world right now...and it's going to take every sane, compassionate person's voice raised in protest before this world sees any changes made.  You know...there were plenty of people over in Germany who voiced objections to what the Nazis were doing...and ended up going to the gas chambers for their efforts.  However, they still made those objections, knowing that it was the right thing to do, in spite of the personal danger it presented.  We'll hope that the spectre of the fatwa doesn't keep moderate Islamics from speaking up.  I have been much encouraged by some of the things I have seen happening in the past two weeks...The Iraqis have graduated their first class of female cops (this, in a male-dominant society...never thought I'd see the day), for one.  Another one would be the passing of the $819 billion dollar bill today...we'll hope that it brings hope and greater security to our troubled economy. 

Amen to speaking out, Catwomen..... Great news, that, on the Iraqi female cops.  By the way, I imagine President Bush is quite happy about the way the election went this past week in Iraq..... could a full-blown democary be on the horizon?
I dunno tho' about that $819 billion dollar bill.... my 8 month old grand-daughter said she ain't paying for it. 

Warph, good writing. You're a real Mensch.

Thanks, Diane.... for a while there I thought I was looking more unmensch there with some of the responses I was getting.

Here is an email from Dr. Joel Geiderman at LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Sunday, December 22, 2002 that I thought was kinda cool at the time:

The invitation to the White House was completely unexpected. It arrived in a caligraphied envelope, with a Chanukah stamp in the corner and a menorah showing through. A Chanukah card, I thought, but I was wrong. There was a gold presidential seal at the top of the card and a few lines of black engraving: "President and Mrs. Bush request the pleasure of your company at a Hanukah reception to be held at the White House. Six o'clock. Wednesday, December 6. East Entrance".  Not bad from a man whom most of my friends thought I was crazy to vote for because he was a member of the "religious right." (Then again, as it turns out, so am I.) We spent most of the day last Wednesday speculating as to what the event would be like. How long would it last?   Would President Bush's involvement be perfunctory or meaningful? After all, the leader of the free world has better things to do than stand around and eat latkes all night. I have learned that if you don't expect too much in life you will never be disappointed. We arrived at the White House gate a little early and were immediately admitted (this President is noted for his punctuality). We walked down a grand hallway. Coming around the next corner we heard a high school choir singing Chanukah songs next to a large illuminated antique menorah that came from a Philadelphia synagogue.  Moving up the stairs we found ourselves literally in the center of the White House, in a grand foyer. The walls were adorned with portraits of past Presidents; a military orchestra was playing festive music and already 100-200 guests were milling about in their finest party clothes. To the right was a grand hall that turned out to be the State Dining Room. This was where the kosher table was set up-a full bar (the wine was Hagafen) and an assortment of food. The mirror image room to the left was the East Room that contained the non-kosher (though not overtly traif) spread of food. By this time, a fairly lengthy receiving line was already forming in the East Room as people waited for a chance to meet the President and First Lady. We recognized and chatted with several other Los Angeles residents, including several prominent rabbis of all denominations-Marvin Hier, Abraham Cooper, Harvey Fields and Mark Diamond. When our turn finally came, one of the military ushers formally announced our name and escorted us to the President and First Lady. We exchanged cheek kisses between the mutual spouses, and chatted for a minute or two both before and after our photo was taken. We spoke briefly about our children and if the President didn't actually remember them ("you have a beautiful family, if I recall") then he certainly pretended to very well. We thanked both the President and the First Lady for all they were doing for us and for having us to their house. "This is the people's house," the President replied. Following this exchange we had dinner and visited with some of the guests and luminaries who were there. Ben Stein was there, as were Sen. Arlen Spector, and Fred Zeidman, Chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Council. We also had a chance to speak at length with Josh Bolton, deputy White House Chief of Staff (Jewish) and briefly with Andrew Card, White House Chief of Staff (not Jewish). At around 8:30 pm, after President and Mrs. Bush finally finished receiving their guests, they emerged one last time, personally thanked orchestra members, waved a final good-bye to the crowd, and ascended the stairs to the private residence. Remarkable, I thought, for a man who reportedly rises every day at 5 AM. What came to mind was the Passover refrain Dayenu ( commonly understood to be translated as "it would have been enough if...). So Dayenu: It would have been enough if we had just received the engraved invitation; it would have been enough if several hundred Jews had just taken over the White House for a Chanukah party that night; it would have been enough if they had set up a non-kosher table in the East Room and a kosher table in the State Dining Room; it would have been enough if the President had just lit the menorah in the private residence with a few friends in attendance (notably, he is the first President ever to have done this---last year); and it would have been enough if the President had just come down and mingled a bit, made a speech, and then gone upstairs to relax. But no, instead the most powerful man on the planet spent well over 2 and-a-half hours standing on his feet and greeting each and every guest personally. So my friends, when you count your blessings this Chanukah season take heart in 2 things: Not only do we Jews have a great friend in the White House, but we have a real mensch there as well. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Joel Geiderman is Co-Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council, and is a good friend of the Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

[Warph]

Forked Tongue Over Gaza
by Suzanne Fields

Der Spiegel, the German newsweekly, came up with the most telling headline on the war in Gaza, its interpretation of the voice of Hamas: "Hurray! We Lost!" This interpretation took a cue from the soccer coach who was fond of telling his team about to play a weak opponent, "They cannot win against us, but we can lose against them."

That's what Israel discovered for itself when its soldiers went into Gaza to answer the Hamas rockets. The Israelis killed 1,300 Palestinians, including a number of high-ranking Palestinian officials, wounded several thousand more and destroyed much of the Hamas military infrastructure, all in just three weeks. They were nevertheless told they had lost.

After Israel announced a cease-fire, Ismail Haniya, the "prime minister of Gaza," came out of hiding and declared victory. Such chutzpah, observes der Speigel, could only be compared to the Black Knight in a Monty Python movie: "After King Arthur cuts off both of the knight's arms and legs, he tells him, 'All right, we'll call it a draw.'"

What happened in Gaza is tragic, but the satirical comparison is not far-fetched. Hamas is winning world public opinion for a seat at the negotiating table as the hue and cry against Israel's "disproportionality" continues to dominate the international media. The moral balance weighs on behalf of Hamas despite its cowardly decision to place rocket launchers and armaments in mosques, schools and hospitals.

Talk about "eyeless in Gaza" (with apologies to Aldous Huxley). In the Middle East, it's the blind who think they see most clearly. The Europeans, terrified into paralysis by the Muslims in their midst, echo Arab claims. Protesting crowds in Paris, Berlin and London blame the Jews and elevate Hamas to heroic status merely for surviving Israel's onslaught in Gaza.

"Hamas has survived the war," observes Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the German newspaper. "It exists, and it is here to stay. Therefore, it is essential that an easing of the Western boycott against the Islamists is considered."

By this logic, the Palestinians might deserve a seat on the United Nations Security Council as soon as they lose a few more wars. Humanitarian help for wounded civilians is the honorable thing to do, but anything more is perverse. The cease-fire was quickly broken by Hamas.

Not everyone in Gaza sees "survival" as euphemism for victory. Gaza builder Mohammed Sadalah, whose house was appropriated by Hamas to use as an emplacement for guns to shoot at Israelis, spoke to reporters as he stood in the ruins of what used to be his bedroom. Hamas came to power by handing out groceries with a message of change, an antidote to the corruption of Fatah, but Mohammed Sadalah is not persuaded. He points to the destruction of his village: "That is the change that they brought about. We were blasted back 2,000 years."

Some former Hamas supporters like Sadalah think Hamas is likely now to follow the example of Hezbollah, which like Hamas claimed dubious victory against Israel in 2006. But Hezbollah gave no help to Hamas for fear of Israeli retaliation. It understands how bad that bad can be. When rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon, the Lebanese prime minister lost no time in condemning them.

On Jan. 27, many people interrupted their daily routine to recognize Holocaust Memorial Day, an observance marked this year against the marches of those who wish Israel and the Jews only ill. Jewish-owned shops across Europe were sprayed with insulting graffiti, and marchers shouted insults reprised from the Nazi days: "Gas the Jews," and, "Get back to the ovens!"

Anti-Semitism always speaks with a forked tongue. Few Europeans decried the excessive force of Hamas as it fired more than 6,000 rockets since 2005 at Israel, killing and wounding civilians, and turning every night into a fearful nightmare. Where was the appreciation of the skill of Israeli pilots who carefully calibrated targets in neighborhoods where Hamas hid weapons and supplies, dropping leaflets warning Palestinians to get out of the neighborhood?

Remembering Jews killed in the Holocaust is important, but memory must recognize the perpetrators of violence as well as change attitudes. As long as a double standard exists toward Jews, memorializing the Holocaust becomes empty sentiment and "never again" a vacant promise.

"There are a great many people in the world," writes Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, in The Wall Street Journal, "who even after Auschwitz just can't bear the Jewish state having the same rights they so readily grant to other nations."

That's the real disproportionality. This is the message for George Mitchell, the new presidential envoy to the Middle East, to keep firmly in mind as he attempts to "process" peace.

[Anmar]

I don't think either side won.  Israel didn't accomplish it's objectives, unless it's objective was to kill a bunch of kids and destroy some buildings.

Hamas made some political gains, and actually gained a lot of sympathy from other Arab and palestinian groups who had previously not thought much of them at all.  But really, they are partially responsible.  As americans, we too are losers in this conflict.  The words of George Washington come to mind....

"Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations ; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and Morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great Nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its Virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which en-nobles human nature. Alas ! is it rendered impossible by its vices?

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, venomed, and bloody contests. The Nation prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the Government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The Government sometimes participates in the national propensity and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has been the victim.

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite Nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite Nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite Nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity ; gilding, with the appearance of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base of foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the Public Councils ! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful Nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens), the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Re-publican Government. But that jealousy to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign Nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. "

As i mentioned in a previous post, there is no military solution to this problem.

[Warph]

Israeli Planes Hit Gaza Tunnels
BBC NEWS - Page last updated at 18:05 GMT, Tuesday, 3 February 2009  

Israeli planes have bombed smuggling tunnels on Gaza's border with Egypt, the Israeli military says.

The raid came after a rocket fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip hit the Israeli city of Ashkelon.

The attacks are the latest violations of ceasefires declared by both sides after an Israeli assault on Gaza meant to stop militant rocket fire on Israel.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised a sustained effort to create a Palestinian state.

Speaking to reporters with Middle East envoy George Mitchell, newly-returned from his first visit to the region, she promised to work towards a "negotiated agreement that would end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians".
 
Telephone warning
Hamas and Israel declared separate ceasefires on 18 January after Israel's three-week attack on the Gaza Strip.

About 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died in fighting as Israel tried to halt or significantly reduce militant rocket fire, and to degrade the military capability of Hamas.
Israel had warned of a harsh response to any further rocket fire from Gaza after the long-range Grad rocket hit Ashkelon on Tuesday.

It was the first attack on Israel involving a Grad rocket since the ceasefires.

Other rockets and mortars have been launched from Gaza, however, and Israel has bombed targets in the narrow coastal territory.

No casualties have been reported in either of the latest attacks.

"I suggest Hamas doesn't fool around with us," said Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
"The air force is operating in Gaza as we speak. We promised calm in the south and we will keep our promise."

Residents of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, said they received telephone calls from the Israeli military warning them to leave their homes ahead of the air raid.
The town is the location of many of the tunnels used to smuggle goods, including weapons, into the Gaza Strip.

There has been no word on which group was behind Tuesday's rocket attack, but the Israeli prime minister's spokesman, Mark Regev, accused Hamas of trying to undermine the ceasefire.

Ashkelon, a city of 122,000 people, is 12 km (7 miles) from northern Gaza.
The city is out of range of the standard rockets and mortars fired by Palestinian militants. Factory-produced Grad rockets, which are smuggled into Gaza from neighbouring Egypt, have a longer reach.

Both Hillary Clinton and George Mitchell promised a long-term effort to negotiate an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"This is the first of what will be an ongoing, high level of engagement," Mrs Clinton said of Mr Mitchell's trip.

"We want to send a clear message... that the United States is committed to this path and we are going to work as hard as we can over what period of time is required to try to help the parties make progress together."

[Warph]

Key Players in the Israeli - Hamas - Fatah Conflict

ISRAEL

Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehut Olmert (Kadima)
Olmert became acting prime minister after Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke on January 4th, 2006. He also took over the leadership of Sharon's new Kadima party and led it to victory in the Knesset elections in March 2006. However Kadima won only 29 of 120 seats and Olmert formed a coalition goverment with Israel's Labor Party and two smaller factions. A major element of the Kadima platform is Olmert's plan to fix permanent borders for Israel by 2010. Olmert joined the Israeli cabinet in 2003 and was appointed finance minister last year before becoming prime minister. He has been a strong supporter of Sharon's plans to withdraw Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. Despite widespread protests by settlers, the Gaza withdrawal went ahead in late August and early September 2005, with emotional scenes as Israeli troops removed some settlers by force.

In September 2008 Olmert, who faces several corruption inquiries, announced his resignation and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was asked to form a new government. Livni quickly urged Likud party leader Binyamin Netanyahu to join a national unity cabinet - a call the Likud leader has rejected before. Livni replaced Olmert as leader of Kadima, the largest party in the Israeli Knesset. If Livni, a former Mossad spy, is successful in building an administration, she should be able to govern until elections in 2010.

Olmert is likely to remain as caretaker prime minister while Livni tries to form the new government. Olmert denies any wrongdoing, but police have recommended he be indicted over two of the inquiries - allegations that he misused cash payments from an American businessman, and accusations that he double-billed government agencies for trips abroad

Palestinian disunity
In June 2007, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new emergency government that excluded his Islamist rivals, Hamas, who had seized control of Gaza after intense fighting between the rival factions. Abbas also issued decrees enabling new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to rule without parliamentary approval and outlawing all of Hamas's armed forces. Fayyad's predecessor, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called the new government illegal, while the United States and the European Union declared their support for the emergency government.

The collapsed Palestinian unity government which included Hamas had only been agreed in February (2007)after several months of fighting between the factions but mistrust between Hamas and Fatah continued. Armed clashes in Gaza in December 2006 and January 2007 had already brought the Palestinian rivals to the brink of civil war. Only after crisis talks hosted by Saudi Arabia did Hamas and Fatah agree to form the unity government.

However Western nations continued their aid boycott of the Palestinian Authority at the time because the Hamas movement refuses to renounce violence against Israel. The United States, the UN, the European Union and Russia - the so-called Quartet - repeatedly said that Hamas must meet three conditions before the financial blockade can be lifted: renounce violence, recognize

Factional tensions between Hamas and Fatah first erupted into deadly armed clashes in the Gaza Strip in December 2006, when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called for early elections. Relations between Fatah and Hamas have been poor since Hamas won a shock election victory in January 2006, ousting Fatah from power. Fatah leader Abbas stayed on as president, while Hamas initially formed a government without Fatah. Western nations subsequently imposed an aid boycott on the Hamas government because the militant group has not renounced its aim of destroying the state of Israel. Up to 400 people have died in clashes between the two factions since the militant Hamas movement won last year's parliamentary elections.

Palestinian rivals: Fatah & Hamas  
Two parties dominate Palestinian politics: Fatah which has been at the head of the Palestinian national movement since the 1950s, and the Islamist movement, Hamas, which won the parliamentary elections in January 2006. 


HAMAS

Full name: Acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement) and means "zeal" in Arabic.
 
Origins and development: Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, committed to establishing an Islamic state in the whole of what it terms Palestine (post-1948 Israel, the West Bank and Gaza).
 
Since its formation 1987 it has pursued a dual function: social welfare and what it calls armed resistance. This earned respect and gratitude among Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation, but a string of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians meant it was designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the European Union.
 
Its 2006 landslide win thrust on Hamas the responsibility of power and international scrutiny for the first time, but the government was not recognised by Israel or the main international mediators.
 
Attitude to Israel: Hamas's charter uncompromisingly seeks Israel's destruction. However, Hamas's Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of the unity government until it was dissolved in June 2007, has spoken of a long-term truce with Israel if Israel withdraws from territory occupied in 1967.  The Hamas armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam brigades, has participated in an informal ceasefire since 2005, but claims the right to retaliate against what it calls Israeli attacks.

Current status: Designated a terrorist group by PA donors, outside funds to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority dried up. Banks refused to handle emergency donations fearing US penalties.
 
After months of wrangling with Fatah, Hamas became the senior partner in a national unity government in March 2007.
 
But separately, it deployed a 3,000-strong shadow security force including its supporters to tackle lawlessness in Gaza. The move exacerbated tensions with pro-Fatah security agencies sparking a major show-down with Fatah.

Mr Haniya appears to be in charge in Gaza - Mr Abbas in the West Bank. The ousted prime minister insists his sacking is illegal - as is the Fayyad cabinet, which cannot get approval in the Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament but which is to rule by decree.


Hamas leader Ismail Haniya
Haniya had been Palestinian prime minister since March 29th, 2006, after his militant Hamas movement won a clear majority in the parliamentary election in January. In March 2007 he became the prime minister of a government of national unity which included Fatah members. After gun battles in Gaza, the unity government collapsed in June 2007 and President Abbas appointed a new prime minister, but Haniya refused to accept his dismissal, describing the new emergency government as "illegal".

Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant Islamist movement, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and Israel, all of which have refused to deal directly with Hamas officials.

Hamas pursues the long-term aim of establishing an Islamic state on all of historic Palestine - most of which has been contained within Israel's borders since its creation in 1948. The grass-roots organization - with a political and a military wing - has an unknown number of active members but tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.

The decision to stand in Palestinian elections was a major departure for Hamas at the time. Top figures say it reflects the importance of the movement and the need for it to play a role in a failing Palestinian political sphere rife with corruption, inefficiency and lost credibility. But Hamas' armed wing remains the epitome of the "terrorist infrastructure" which the Palestinian Authority is called on to dismantle under the international peace plan known as the roadmap.

Hamas Political Chief Khaled Meshaal
Meshaal was named a Hamas leader following Israeli's killing of the group's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in March 2004. The organization's covert structure means it is unclear what authority he wields, but from his exile in the Syrian capital, Damascus, he has played an important role since the group won a majority in January's Palestinain parliamentary elections.

Unhindered by the travel restrictions imposed by Israel on Hamas leaders in Gaza and the West Bank, Meshaal has represented the group at meetings with foreign governments and other parties throughout the world. After talks with the Egyptian government and the Arab League in Cairo in February, Meshaal said that Hamas would be willing to take a serious step towards peace if Israel did the same. However he said resisting an occupation was legal and Hamas would not renounce violence. But he said a long-term truce would be possible if Israel accepted conditions, including a return to its 1967 borders.

Meshaal survived an Israeli assassination attempt on his life back in 1997 and he has always supported Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Like many Palestinians, he believes that such attacks are a legitimate act of resisting the Israeli occupation.

Israel has accused Meshaal and the Syrian-based leadership of Hamas of being behind the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Cpl Shalit was seized in a cross-border raid by militants in June 2006, sparking an Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.


FATAH

Full name: Reverse acronym of Harakat al-Tahrir al-Filistiniya (Palestinian Liberation Movement) meaning "conquest" in Arabic.
 
Origins and development: Founded by Yasser Arafat in the 1950s to promote the armed struggle to liberate all Palestine from Israeli control.
 
It developed into the largest Palestinian political faction and, after recognising Israel's right to exist, led efforts towards a two-state solution with Israel under the 1990s Oslo peace accords.
 
Fatah members formed the backbone of the Oslo-inspired administration, the Palestinian Authority (PA), especially its bureaucrats and security forces.
 
The party lost power in the 2006 parliamentary elections to Hamas, after Fatah officials came to be perceived as corrupt and incompetent. The shift in power heralded a period of violence on the streets of Gaza.
 
Attitude to Israel: PA President Mahmoud Abbas advocates restarting the peace process and is a strong critic of armed "resistance" and attacks on Israeli civilians. His goal is to establish a Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as capital.
 
The Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades has participated, along with Hamas, in an informal militant ceasefire since 2005, but conducts what it calls retaliatory attacks against Israel.
 
Current status: The 2006 election defeat put Fatah on the defensive and subsequent events raised fears it would try using its political influence and military power to maintain predominance. The PA's 70,000 police and security forces are mainly Fatah loyalists.

After months of factional street fighting in which hundreds of Palestinians were killed, Fatah struck a deal with Hamas to join a unity government as a junior partner.
 
Palestinian Authority President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government in June 2007 in the wake of some of the worst fighting that resulted in the Gaza Strip being seized by the Hamas armed forces in what the movement described as a "liberation".

A new emergency cabinet has been sworn in in the West Bank, led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (FATAH)
Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) is the leader of the Fatah Party and was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005, to succeed the late Yasser Arafat. President George W. Bush praised the election of the moderate PLO leader as a tribute to the power and appeal of democracy and an "inspiration" to the region. In May 2005 Abbas became the first Palestinian leader to be given the red carpet treatment in Washington during the Bush presidency.

Abbas and then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had earlier announced a mutual cease-fire at a summit in Egypt. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was the best chance for peace in years.

However the militant Hamas group gave a lukewarm reaction to the summit, with its representative in Lebanon saying the cease-fire declarations were "not binding" on its members. Abbas' position as Palestinian leader became very complicated after the rival Hamas movement defeated his Fatah party in the parliamentary election on January 25th, 2006 and formed a cabinet without the participation of Fatah. The secular nationalist Fatah movement founded by Arafat in the 1950s had dominated Palestinian politics for many decades.

In December 2006 the tensions between Fatah and Hamas escalated into armed clashes in the Gaza Strip, further heavy fighting in June 2007 resulted in Hamas taking over the entire Gaza strip and ejecting Fatah. Abbas declared a state of emergency, appointed Salam Fayyad prime minister (see below) and fired Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, but Haniya refused to accept his dismissal.

Fatah Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
Salam Fayyad is considered a liberal and widely respected among the international organizations and donors. He worked at the World Bank in Washington from 1987-1995 and then served as the International Monetary Fund's representative to Palestine based in Jerusalem until 2001. He served as the finance minister under the Fatah-controlled administration from 2002-2005 and won praise from the international community for introducing economic reform. He is also credited with cracking down on official corruption.

He resigned from the cabinet in late 2005 to found and run the Third Way Bloc, an independent party. The party won two seats in the parliamentary election in January 2006.

After the formation of the Palestinian unity government in February 2007, it was Fayyad who met US diplomats and then lobbied the European Union for a resumption of aid to the Palestinian Authority. In April, he met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice informally - the highest-level contact between a US official and a minister in the Palestinian unity government. Born in 1952 near the West Bank city of Tulkarm, he holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas. He began his career teaching economics at Yarmuk University in Jordan. 

Timeline of Conflict
2006
Dec 9 - Abbas suggests early polls; Hamas denounces the idea
Dec 11 - Three sons of a Fatah security chief are shot dead on their way to school
Dec 14 - Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya's convoy comes under fire; Hamas blames Fatah
Dec 16 - Abbas says he will call early elections; Hamas speaks of "coup"
Dec 19 - Formal truce between Hamas and Fatah
2007
Jan 1 - New clashes between Hamas and Fatah erupt in Gaza
Jan 21 - Abbas and Hamas political chief Meshaal meet in Syria
Jan 25 - Armed clashes between Hamas and Fatah flare up again
Jan 30 - Another truce between Hamas and Fatah becomes effective
Feb 2 - Truce collapses amid fresh clashes, followed by another cease-fire agreement
Feb 8 - Hamas and Fatah leaders agree to form a unity government at crisis talks in Mecca
Mar 15 - Palestinian unity cabinet unveiled
May 13 - Several days of fighting between Hamas and Fatah, at least 50 people die
May 15 - Israel resumes air strikes on Gaza following Palestinian rocket attacks
May 24 - Abbas calls on militants to cease their rocket attacks on Israel
Jun 12 - More heavy fighting between Hamas and Fatah despite cease-fire agreement
Jun 14 - Abbas declares state of emergency and dissolves the unity govt, Hamas captures Gaza.
Jun 15 - Abbas appoints new prime minister
Jun 17 - Abbas swears in new emergency govt that excludes Hamas
Jun 18 - US and EU declare support for new Palestinian govt
Aug 2 - Secretary of State Rice signs an agreement giving the Palestinian Authority $80m
Sep 19 - Israel declares Gaza Strip "hostile entity"
2008
Jan 17 - Israel seals off Gaza Strip after Palestinian rocket attacks
Jan 23 - Palestinians breach the border fence and cross into Egypt
Jun 19 - Cease-fire agreed between Israel and Hamas
Dec 19 - Cease-fire between Israel and Hamas expires
Dec 27 - Israel launches air strikes on Gaza Strip
2009
Jan 3 - Israel launches ground offensive into Gaza Strip
Jan 17/18 - Israel and Hamas declare new cease-fires after 3 weeks of hostilities