By David Bedein
Since taking over the Gaza Strip in June 2007, Hamas has ruled the territory like a personal kingdom, bolstering its own authority, ruthlessly crushing its opposition, and generally undermining the notion that Palestinians are ready to inherit a single, unified state alongside Israel. According to a September report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think tank, none of these factors are likely change any time soon.
Warning that “in Gaza, new realities are taking hold,” the ICG report, titled “Round Two in Gaza,” concluded that “reversing the drift toward greater Palestinian separation, both political and geographic, will be a difficult and, at this point, almost hopeless task.” Because Hamas has spent the past few years consolidating its rule, moreover, there is little reason to believe that the terror group will be dislodged from the Gaza Strip.
To understand why Hamas’s power is all but uncontested, one need only look back to this August, when the organization launched a campaign of repression and intimidation against its rivals. First, Hamas warned that Palestinian clans and militias would not be allowed to operate without approval of the ruling regime – a move that effectively neutered the opposition. Soon thereafter, Hamas assaulted a leading clan, the Fatah-aligned Hilles, and accused it of masterminding a July bombing that killed five Hamas field commanders. The message was received. In due course an even larger pro-Fatah clan, Dughmoush, pledged that it would obey Hamas laws. Read more ...
Since taking over the Gaza Strip in June 2007, Hamas has ruled the territory like a personal kingdom, bolstering its own authority, ruthlessly crushing its opposition, and generally undermining the notion that Palestinians are ready to inherit a single, unified state alongside Israel. According to a September report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think tank, none of these factors are likely change any time soon.
Warning that “in Gaza, new realities are taking hold,” the ICG report, titled “Round Two in Gaza,” concluded that “reversing the drift toward greater Palestinian separation, both political and geographic, will be a difficult and, at this point, almost hopeless task.” Because Hamas has spent the past few years consolidating its rule, moreover, there is little reason to believe that the terror group will be dislodged from the Gaza Strip.
To understand why Hamas’s power is all but uncontested, one need only look back to this August, when the organization launched a campaign of repression and intimidation against its rivals. First, Hamas warned that Palestinian clans and militias would not be allowed to operate without approval of the ruling regime – a move that effectively neutered the opposition. Soon thereafter, Hamas assaulted a leading clan, the Fatah-aligned Hilles, and accused it of masterminding a July bombing that killed five Hamas field commanders. The message was received. In due course an even larger pro-Fatah clan, Dughmoush, pledged that it would obey Hamas laws. Read more ...
Source: FrontPage Magazine
 |
Posts
