Posted on 06/23/2007 7:20:48 PM PDT by blam
Fatah vows to wipe Hamas from West Bank
By Charles Levinson in Nablus, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:35am BST 24/06/2007
Just two weeks ago, they were on the same uneasy side of the Palestinian fence: a butcher's son, who had spent nine years in an Israeli jail, and a mother of five children who, as deputy mayor of Nablus, supported the unity government formed in April.
Fatah gunmen rally in support of President Mahmoud Abbas in Jenin
But now Fayiz al Tirawi, the butcher and a militant Fatah leader, is out for revenge, and Khalood al Masry, a Hamas leader, is sleeping each night in a different safe house, fearful that she will be his victim.
Last week, Mr Tirawi's henchmen delivered a taste of what may be coming Mrs Masry's way. They set fire to the Jathoor Centre she founded in the middle of Nablus.
For Mrs Masry it was merely a place for young women to acquire job skills and learn English. For Mr Tirawi it spewed poison, propagated fundamentalist Islam and taught hatred of Fatah. Now it is a charred shell and Mrs Masry has been warned not to return to work at Nablus's city hall.
It is just 12 days since Hamas fighters staged their putsch in Gaza, routing Fatah security forces and forcing the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to declare an emergency, sack the Hamas-led unity government and appoint a new one without the Islamists.
Since then, the Fatah party has embarked on settling the score with its Islamist rivals in the West Bank, its commanders vowing to eradicate Hamas.
Many fear that the showdown will further radicalise the Palestinian territories, and risks triggering a renewed wave of suicide bomb attacks against Israel. Hamas launched dozens of attacks against the Jewish state, killing hundreds of Israeli civilians, but has largely abided by a ceasefire for the past two years.
"It is extremely dangerous to corner Hamas like this," Mrs Masry, 38, warned angrily amid the ruins of the Jathoor Centre. "The Israeli occupation is pressing Hamas from one side and Fatah is pressuring it from the other."
Hamas would not sit on the sidelines, she added, languishing in Israeli prisons or confined to Gaza while Mr Abbas pressed ahead with threatened early elections, or resumed peace negotiations with Israel. "The point is coming when Hamas will say, 'Enough'," she said.
Fatah leader Fayiz al Tirawi poses with his pistol
Asked if that would mean a resumption of attacks against Israel, she said simply: "The situation will not, cannot, continue this way."
Although Fatah is the dominant force across much of the West Bank, Hamas still has strongholds - not least Nablus - where its candidates won enough votes 18 months ago to propel it to power.
In the past week, Hamas-controlled city councils, including that in Nablus, have been disbanded by decree of militant Fatah members.
Hundreds of Hamas activists have been rounded up - some arrested by official Palestinian security services, others bundled off by shadowy militias. Masked gunmen kidnapped Ahmed al-Khaldi, the justice minister in the Hamas-dominated government, as he left a mosque after prayers in Nablus on Friday.
Also on Friday, Mr Abbas ordered a review of all private organisations and businesses in the Palestinian territories ahead of an even broader crackdown on Hamas-affiliated groups. Dozens of Hamas-run charities, businesses and political offices have been set on fire at night.
Meanwhile Gaza has become more isolated than ever, with Israel - which controls most of its border - unwilling to let its people flee the new, Islamist regime developing within.
St. Gabriel Possenti is as good as any...
ding, ding, ding, best post of the day!!! BTW spell check is yo lil frien.
it is great when pali muzzie terrorists vow to kill pali muzzie terrorists!!!!
no downside to this one!!!
LOL....I’m in the same boat. Only I’m still looking for my (biological)dad
Another article said that that pool of drying blood is probably from the Fatah members who were recently executed by Hamas.
I am rolling my eyes at your tagline!
;<)
LOL...I’ve been on a bit of a drought on the tagline creativity as of late. Thanks for noticing though, Eak!
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