What is so appalling about the factional violence that has disfigured Gaza for the past 48 hours is that it serves the interests of absolutely no one except Israelis. They always want to portray Palestinians as dangerous and lawless and incapable of unity. Every bullet fired by one Palestinian at another is a bullet shot directly into the heart of the dream of a free and just Palestine.
Since this so benefits the Israeli policy to avoid real talks on a Palestinian settlement, it may be suspected that the gunman who killed a Fatah commander Sunday was acting on Mossad orders. The Israelis have shown how they have penetrated radical ranks, particularly those of Hamas. The aerial attacks on individual vehicles carrying senior Hamas personnel are a clear demonstration of Israeli’s espionage network in Palestine.
But even if this were the act of an agent provocateur, local Fatah and Hamas commanders should have reined in their men and stopped the violence from escalating.
The upsurge in street fighting, despite calls from national unity government figures for it to end, may demonstrate a worrying breakdown of order and respect among militiamen. Despite their parading with weapons, the majority of these men have had little formal training. The temptation to ignore orders and act independently is often too great in such individuals. In the past they have been kept in check by respect for local and national leaders. Tragically, the continuing lack of progress toward even the beginning of a political settlement with Israel, coupled with the economic stranglehold the Israelis have on Gaza, has deepened despair among everyone, including the militias.
A people under this sort of pressure retreats into laagers of family and friendship networks and behaves first and foremost in the interests of those groups rather than in the interest of the wider Palestinian cause. And with the different parts of a National Unity Government still hesitating to work easily together, it is hard to blame people for trying to look after themselves. Unfortunately, such behavior includes the militiamen whose weapons give them status in an increasingly lawless society.
The cancer of economic deprivation mixes with the acid of political humiliation to produce a debilitating hopelessness. The Palestinians have given up their democratically elected Hamas government and accepted an un-elected coalition. They have done what the outside world said it wanted. So where is the dividend? Where is the reward? How much more must the Palestinians be prepared to give up before they are treated with dignity and respect? This failure to recognize the sacrifices this oppressed and brutalized people have made is generating the corrosive despair which means Palestinian will all too readily turn upon Palestinian. This is precisely what the Israelis and their friends in Washington want. But must Europeans continue to support such blind wickedness?
