Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Unity - When Everyone Shoots At Each Other At Once

Once upon a time, when I was young and naive (ie. under 30 and still believing in warm, fuzzy Liberal-style ideology), I thought Israel could have peace with the Palestinians.

As I got a little older, I began to believe that while Israel and the palestinians would never have a real peace, it was possible to at least create a "cold" peace where the parties just kept out of one another's affairs as much as possible.

Then, after Arafat walked away from Camp David in favour of starting the second intifailure, I realized there would never be anything but hatred emanating from the palis towards the Israelis. So, I backed the concept of the wall and increased checkpoints along with the Gaza pullout which helped solidify that part of Israel's borders. At that same time, I began to believe there was no way the palestinians would avoid civil war once Arafat was sent to roast in hell with his buddies Yassin and Rantisi.

The palestinians haven't really had their civil war yet. They've had what would better be considered as mindless street thuggery...the kind the bloods and crips might have if they were all armed with AK-47s instead of .38 specials and knives. There's no war, really, just tit-for-tat violence that claims lots of terrorist-wannabe lives and just as many innocent lives.

But, of course, the palis have it all figured out. The Saudis brokered that famous peace, the palestinian unity government was formed, approved and sworn in only three days ago! The Russians were said to be ready to normalize relationships, the Norwegians sent a representative and urged other nations to do likewise, the rest of the Euroweenies were falling all over each other to hail this remarkable advance and even the US signalled its willingness to meet with non-Hamas members of the new "unity" government.

But, here's today's news: GAZA (Reuters) - A militant loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction was killed and seven people were wounded on Wednesday in the first deadly clash between Fatah and Hamas since a unity government was formed.

Within hours, two Palestinians linked to Hamas were abducted in Gaza City in a sign violence could spread despite the new coalition's stated aim of ending factional strife and closing ranks against a crippling year-old Western aid embargo.


Now, two days without killing each other IS a significant achievement for palestinians but hardly the stuff of unity. They couldn't even make it past 50 hours, with the world watching, before they resumed their slaughter...it's the palestinian version of playing Xbox.

Ho-hum, better they kill each other than Israelis, anyway. Guess the Russians and Europeans will just have to wait for the bloodletting to end before they can once again begin pandering to Arab interests. Hopefully, the US at least won't make the same dumb statement again and thankfully Canada never even came close to accepting this latest formation of palestinian terror groups.

5 comments:

Michael said...

under 30 and still believing in warm, fuzzy Liberal-style ideology

My brother once said that if you are under 30 and not a liberal, you have no heart, while if you are over 30 and not a conservative, you have no brain.f

Great post. I agree with you, that the best possibility is a "cold" peace, and even that is not likely, as the palis are dedicated to hatred and killing.

You analysis of the palestinian polity, They've had what would better be considered as mindless street thuggery...the kind the bloods and crips might have..., is right-on.

Don't worry, though: the world will continue to trip over itself giving them money and support. Plus ca change...

southfield_2001 said...

sadly, you are right, Michael, about many countries giving them money and support.
I can't tell you how pleased I am that Canada's government cut them off immediately when Hamas was elected and has totally and unequivocally resisted all calls to interact with any palestinian government that refuses to abide by even the most basic Road Map conditions (recognition of Israel and cessation of violence).

Catherine said...

"My brother once said that if you are under 30 and not a liberal, you have no heart, while if you are over 30 and not a conservative, you have no brain."

I'm over 30 and most definitely not a conservative. Then again, I'm not exactly a liberal, either. I don't think it's smart to be entirely one or the other. I have a lot more respect for people who think for themselves rather than toeing a party line.

Michael said...

Southfield:
The Canadian gov't, under Harper, has been more resolute on this subject than the Bush Admin. It's been good to watch from here. Too bad the Hamas/Fatah terrorists won't get the message.

Catherine:
I'm over 30 and most definitely not a conservative. Then again, I'm not exactly a liberal, either. I don't think it's smart to be entirely one or the other.

Me, too.
I should know better, by now, then to quote my brother...

southfield_2001 said...

I am distinctly liberal on social issues (support gay marriage, drug legalization, abortion rights, etc.) and distinctly conservative on foreign affairs issues.
I think that makes me, more or less, a Giuliani Republican.
And, yes, Michael, for the first time in a long time, I'm proud to be a resident of Canada. May it be years before we must suffer through another Liberal (as in the political party that previously held power) bunch of wishy-washy bullshit on the world stage.