Gaza Violence Commentary, Part II

When you raise your children to be psychotic killers...

... and consciousless barbarians toward their Jewish neighbors... ... they grow up to be psychotic killers.... ... and consciousless barbarians... ...toward their Arab neighbors too.

It was a cliffhanger of a coupt d'etat, but today the lines broke and Hamas emerged victorious. Fatach team leader President Machmoud Abbas, who in his younger years masterminded the famous Munich Olympic massacre of 1976, seemed to have lost his youthful taste for violence. Towards the end of the day, he finally gave the order for his men to fight back, but it was too late. Having already surrounded the main Fatach compound in Gaza City, Hamas arranged a surrender of the beleaguered Fatach fighters. Hamas then stripped down Fatach prisoners to their underwear, paraded them through the streets, and executed them in front of their wives and children.

A parade of Fatach men being walked to their execution.

One might be tempted to extend a bit of sympathy towards the miserable column of dead men walking. Until, that is, one remembers that these are the same guys who blew up a school bus, paralyzing schoolchildren and killing teachers, back in 2000. What goes around comes around.

Meanwhile, Hamas is broadcasting over the radio lists of Gaza Fatach gangsters to be hunded down and killed, while Fatach is arresting hundreds of known Hamas gangsters throughout Judea and Samaria.

Some guy being dragged away by some gang in Shechem (Nablus.)

While a Jew is forbidden from celebrating in the demise and death of his enemies, there is a smug satisfaction at watching the assorted gangs and tribes, so often seen marching through the streets boasting of their killings of Jews, unsheathe their knives and fall upon one another. It's like watching the Gestapo and the SS go to war. In the long run, there are several possible outcomes, none of them pretty for the Arabs:

1. Different powers back both sides.

This could end up being a repeat of the Lebanon war, where Saudis, Americans, Egyptians, Syrians, and Israelis each rescued their own faction when it seemed to be near defeat. This extended the war to fifteen years. The fighting in Lebanon killed around 200,000, out of a population similar in number to that of the "Palestinian" Arabs. It also resulted in the permanent emigration of around one third of Lebanon's population.

2. Hamas wins in Gaza

It would seem that this has already happened, although Hamas could easily break into various clans and factions which then continue the internal warfare. If Gaza falls to Hamas, and Judea and Samaria, the "West Bank," remain under Fatach, there would be no longer be a unified "Palestinian" entity to which Israel could be pressured to surrender territory.

3. Hamas wins in Gaza and the "West Bank"

"Palestine" would be controlled by an entity hostile not only to Jewish independence but also to any and all democratic states. It would be much harder for an American president, even if she were named Hillary, to come up with a "Road Map to Peace" or some other such dangerous nonsense with Hamas on the other end of the table.

This infighting is resulting in the permanent discrediting of the very concept of "Palestinian Nationalism," a mere 40 years after it was invented. At the same time, the vast numbers fleeing may make enough of a demographic dent to put to bed the idea of a "binational state" that's been floating around in diplomatic circles. This unoriginal idea was that everyone between the river and the sea, Jew and Arab, would be granted one vote in a government which would rule over the entire land of Israel. The Arabs, with their higher birth rate, would then vote Israel into the grave, which is why it was supported only among Israel-haters. Without an Arab majority, this idea loses its teeth.

While the discrediting of these concepts may seem to be positive outcomes, it's important to remember that we are still surrounded by millions of Arabs, and intellectually assaulted by the Jimmy Carters and Jim Bakers of the world, all of whom would like to see the holy land Jewless. If the forty year charade of "Palestinian Nationalism" is put to bed, they will simply adopt a different pretext. Sympathy for "Palestinian Nationalism" was never about loving the Arabs, it was always about hating the Jews.

But in the short term, this is not good news. As the various gangs and warlords vie for control, they have to gain credibility and honor amongst the "Arab Street." The only way to do this is by killing Jews. Whenever the situation heats up in the inter-gang Gazan warfare, the terror gangs compete to fire barrages of terror rockets down on Sderot. A few weeks ago, forty rockets hit the town in one day, killing two and wounding dozens.

The town of 32,000 is now in grave danger of being lost, not by death or destruction, but by the flight of the rocket-weary residents. So it's time to head back to Sderot. Stay tuned...