West Bank men shaving beards to avoid Fatah arrests [LOL]

The tensions in Gaza were felt all the way in the West Bank city of Qalqiliya where merchants in the local marketplace decided not only to mark down prices but also shave off their beards.

"Nowadays a beard is no longer a religious decree, it's a clear and present danger," one of the merchants told Ynet. "Fatah harasses anyone with a beard and beats them, so may Allah forgive us if we remove ours to stay safe. As it is the beard is optional and not mandatory," he said.

In Ramallah last weekend three French citizens were badly beaten by Fatah men who suspected them of being affiliated with Hamas due to their facial hair. Hamas meanwhile has accused Fatah of persecuting the religion of Islam and subsequently anyone who looks religious due to his appearance.

Qalqiliya's marketplace is usually swamped with tens of thousands of visitors on Saturdays, primarily Israeli Arabs, all packed tightly between the teeming market stands, restaurants and bakeries.

This Saturday however, after a week of bloodshed in the PA, only several dozen shoppers made their way to Qalqiliya. Those who did come enjoyed dramatically low prices due to the abrupt change in consumer demand. The marketplace already boasts significantly lower prices than those found in Israel.

Two pounds of potatoes, sold at an average $1 in Israel and $0.70 in Qalqiliya, went for $0.20 this weekend.

"We have to sell it, even for pittance. It's better than being left with goods that will rot," they said.

Midday official Palestinian security troops arrived, wearing facemasks. A group of young boys pestered the armed men, who threatened them with rifles. One of the stall owners, fearing a riot would scare away the few customers that did come, grabbed one of the boys and slapped him. The crowd dispersed.

Even the PA troops, whose main concern is usually directing traffic and chatting with shoppers, were tense and on alert; examining ID cards, mostly those belonging to Palestinians. Israelis? That's just fine, come and shop.

Not far from the market is the Qalqiliya city hall, the glass pane of its front door smashed in and other parts of the building have been vandalized. City workers have not yet even bothered to sweep up the broken shards from the pavement outside. Hamas is in complete control of the city and every one of the 15 council members is from the movement.

One of the councilmen apologizes that he cannot meet with us: "We've decided to lay low since we might be arrested by the PA or kidnapped and harmed by Fatah. God knows when this situation will end. Drunk on its own power after its victory Hamas in Gaza forgot about its brothers in the West Bank. 150 of them have been kidnapped or arrested over the last few fays, one was shot in killed in Nablus and many more were wounded."

You ask;

"When does the blame Bush, Global Warming, and Israel angle get worked in?

Yesterday morning on NPR [National Public Radio], the U.S., and Israel were blamed for the entire mess (of course). They were going on and on about how Fatah is now, in (their) reality, Elliot Abrams' new "Contras".

Fatah=Contra (don't forget those big bad republicans are all for contras don'tcha know)

It dawned on me just how dense NPR was/is to swallow that pile of Hamas propaganda, without questioning the verity of it, one iota. Not ONE question as to the accuracy of the info [not to mention ANY consideration of other primary factors]...barely even any mention of the "source" for this info, either (other than Hamas mouthpieces) except for some lefty loony British accented commentator, breathlessly telling us all about how this dust-up between Hamas and Fatah is all Bush's "failure".

That's right, folks, it's George Bush's singular fault, that both Fatah and even more, Hamas, are a bunch of power-tripping, murderous thugs! Would NPR lie to us? or even mislead us a wee bit?

No, NPR loves spreading this [dis]information, since they can tar Bush, Israel, any memory of Reagan, and Fatah, all with the same brush. I mean, it has to be right, if it can be used to lay all the blame at George Bush's feet...correct?

More accuratly [than NPR];
Hamas is Arafat's bastard child. He helped spawn the brat while feeding his ideological hatred of Jews & Israel, to every portion of the Arabic speaking world that would give him a listen. Hamas now, is claiming to be the "rightful heir", since they don't double-talk as Arafat [eventually] did, and make small noises to the affect that, ok, Israel can 'exist'[so that he could get PILES of money from U.S. taxpayers, followed by then by PILES more from the EU, courtesy of Billy blowjob Clinton] even while telling his home crowd, [in arabic language] "hey, I was just fooling with them...you know i still hate the jews, right?"

Hamas makes no such equivocations. They hold themselves out to be ideologically purer than Arafat's' Fatah.
For they, Hamas, still swear oaths of utter annihilation towards Israel and the Jews, thusly qualifying themselves as being the true voice of "purity". The definition of "purity" being narrowly defined by their own selves (and their masters, in Qom, & Tehran, of course).

Hamas helped sell this idea amongst their electorate, by being generous with money, food, and other assistance supplied to them by the Iranian Ayatollahs, while meanwhile, Arafat's Fatah, just kept on being the corrupt image of their maker.

Could it be...?

But oh, never-mind all that!
Just repeat after NPR;
Fatah=Contras!
Fatah=Contras!
Fatah=Contras!

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