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Unread 4 Jul 2007, 09:02   #1
Tietäjä
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So, Hamas got Johnston out then

"Mr Johnston said Hamas's seizure of power in Gaza and its subsequent pledge to improve security in the territory had facilitated his release..

With Hamas having seized control in Gaza, the Hamas-lead government having been sacked by the Fatah faction, which evidently has Israel and the USA backing it up, the question of the Gaza area has a strange feel to it. I suppose a full-scale invasion by Israel (supported by United States and the international community) is just a matter of time. That'll probably provoke more violence and "terrorism" (in form of guerilla tactics). Ah, well. Why does it appear to me like a probable more stable period will be wasted with an invasion?

Given that Hamas won elections, and is now on an evident (publicity stunt?) attempt to stabilize and bring effective law enforcement to the Gaza area, wouldn't it be awfully stupid to run in with armors and spoil something that seems to have been achieved. Granted, Hamas are labeled as terrorists due to their guerilla tactics in the Israel war (and their view that Israel is a military state at large because of the type of military service, which makes for there being "no civilians" in Israel, hence everyone's a viable target). It's not like either party of that war was innocent.

Maybe they should just leave Hamas alone for a while, let them build up a level of law and stability in the area, and hope Blair doesn't royally **** up the peace talks. It all sounds unlikely, but I guess there'd be a chance of bringing some peace or at least less war to the area, granted that the Israel side of the duel doesn't bring in too many troops to Gaza.
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Unread 4 Jul 2007, 09:05   #2
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Re: So, Hamas got Johnston out then

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Originally Posted by Tietäjä
the Fatah faction, which evidently has Israel and the USA backing it up
um
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Unread 4 Jul 2007, 09:11   #3
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Re: So, Hamas got Johnston out then

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Originally Posted by Phang
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Israel started releasing frozen funds when the Hamas government was sacked in order to support Fatah? I'm not sure about the USA, but I'd assume they'll be behind Israel here. The fiscal isolation of the taxes Israel collects for Palestine was started when the Hamas government was elected, and ended when the Hamas government was sacked.

ps. excuse the HT link, I hope it's not a tabloid, it was just easier to locate than BBC as I actually read the paper version. Here is the BBC version of the story, in case HT is unreliable. It's possibly even more "direct":

Quote:
Israel has pledged to support the emergency cabinet of Mr Abbas, operating from the West Bank, in opposition to Hamas, which controls Gaza.

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Unread 4 Jul 2007, 10:09   #4
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Re: So, Hamas got Johnston out then

there's a difference between 'being backed up' and 'being recognised and co-operated with' and it's a fairly crucial one, at least in the presentation of your argument. Which isn't very good anyway
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Unread 4 Jul 2007, 10:22   #5
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Re: So, Hamas got Johnston out then

True, although freezing/unfreezing financial assets is a length of action. The fact that the government was sacked quickly wasn't very surprising, although I wouldn't understand the reasoning behind it.

What comes to it, is that the unification government was actually elected with (I'm not sure how legal, but Fatah is fairly well "known" for being corrupt too) elections, and if it comes down to pointing fingers and figuring out who is a terrorist and whonot, Israel military just shot a Fatah militant a while ago, alledgedly having lead attacks or similar. Why Hamas wouldn't be negotiated with? I have no clue - while the organization's "goal" is to abolish Israel, I'm not sure the political party would share this goal so strongly - after all, they've said that they'd be interesting in negotiating a long-term truce with Israel given that they leave the areas they occupied in 1967. It probably comes down to neither party willing to be the first one not to retaliate, or being the one to back down on demands. Fatah has had it's paramilitary connections too, Black September was linked to it for example - although was denied for obvious reasons. Both factions have their extre sides. It's probably hard to say how the situation in Gaza is at the moment, but I guess Johnston's realease is a positive aspect, especially with him claiming that Hamas is working on things. It's not like negotiating with Yasser Arafat or the rest of the Fatah ever reached any solid results.

The bottom line is, Fatah isn't exactly rose garden, and Hamas isn't any better (both factions are linked to extremeists that will use violence), but if the situation there is improving (given that Johnston got off his 114-day trip with the Jihadists), and Hamas is rooting out some of the extreme groups that evidently are interested in a global war, I'm not sure if an invasion and an interruption of the progress would be a great idea.

edit. In case you're interested, read Jimmy Carter's views on it - it's a while ago, and by now the situation has already escalated anyways.

Last edited by Tietäjä; 4 Jul 2007 at 10:39.
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Unread 4 Jul 2007, 17:16   #6
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Re: So, Hamas got Johnston out then

Is one western journalist getting released a sign of the situation improving?
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