Why peace with the Palestinians will be so hard to find

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

Totally corrupt, no unity, reasonable political leadership in short supply, fanaticism on the rise. I was hoping that the Gaza withdrawal would create a window of opportunity for new peace intiatives. But of course, deep down I knew that was a fanatasy. The violence and killing in the region go on because the people there want it to. Or because they don't want peace enough to stop it.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - About 100 masked militants stormed the heavily guarded home of Gaza's former security chief early Wednesday, dragged him out in his pajamas and killed him in a burst of gunfire — a brazen challenge to the Palestinian Authority days before Israel was to hand over Gaza.

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Moussa Arafat, a 65-year-old cousin of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was killed after a 30-minute gunbattle between the assailants and dozens of bodyguards. The fighting with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles raged just a block from the headquarters of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service. The gunmen also kidnapped Arafat's oldest son, Manhal.

The Popular Resistance Committees, a violent group made up largely of former members of the Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, later claimed responsibility. The group said it killed Arafat to punish him for alleged corruption after the Palestinian security forces had taken no action against him.

"We have implemented God's law," a spokesman, Mohammed Abdel Al, told The Associated Press.

Abbas said he would track down the killers — a pledge immediately put to the test by the bold claim of responsibility. Abdel Al said his group would resist arrest or any attempt to be disarmed. Abbas had said just a few days ago he would try to bring renegade Fatah fighters under control within three weeks.

The killing heightened concerns that Abbas will not be able to restore order in the increasing lawless coastal strip where armed gangs control the streets. Palestinian officials said they viewed the killing as an attack on the government. Abbas convened his top security officials and Palestinian security forces were put on high alert.

"This is a very dangerous act," said Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. "They targeted one of the Palestinian security leaders."

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said the killing was a test for Abbas, who is widely known as Abu Mazen. "Abu Mazen has to wake up and make the correct strategic decision to collect the illegal weapons and dismantle the terror groups," he told Israel Radio.

Abbas has shied away from confrontation with the militants, and instead tried to coopt them, by offering them political participation and jobs in the security forces.

The Popular Resistance Committees is a group made up mostly of former Fatah members, but also includes militants from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups. It has taken responsibility for numerous deadly attacks on Israelis.

Members of the group were also arrested by Palestinian police for alleged connection to a bombing against an American diplomatic convoy in 2003 that killed three Americans. Some were later released for lack of evidence, and others were sprung from Gaza's central jail by fellow militants.

Abbas fired Arafat, who had many enemies and was the target of frequent corruption allegations, several months ago as part of government reforms. Abdel Al, the spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, said Arafat "was responsible for killing, stealing and blackmail."

"Now we have huge files about corrupt deals by Arafat and his son, Manhal, who is being interrogated and confessed to some of these corrupt deals," Abdel Al said. Manhal is a senior security official.

In the military-style attack on Arafat, about 100 gunmen overpowered dozens of bodyguards patrolling outside his four-story home in an upscale Gaza City neighborhood. The attackers blew the iron gate off its hinges and tied up the bodyguards after a 30-minute gunbattle, Abdel Al said.

After the attack, Arafat was dragged outside and shot in the sandy street.

Palestinian police said three bodyguards were initially kidnapped, along with Manhal Arafat, but were later released. One bodyguard was shot in the leg.

Arafat was a founder of the ruling Fatah movement and was a senior official in the Fatah Revolutionary Council, a top policy-making body. After being fired as security chief, he was given the considerably less-influential job of military adviser to Abbas.

Arafat was a target of previous assassination attempts and always traveled in a heavily guarded convoy, using an armored limousine that once transported Yasser Arafat.

Israeli Cabinet ministers, meanwhile, approved new arrangements at the Gaza-Egypt border, and raised the possibility it would eventually agree to the movement of Palestinians in and out of Gaza under the supervision of foreign inspectors, without an Israeli presence. The plan still awaits full approval by the Israeli Cabinet next week.

Palestinians were not immediately available for comment. They have insisted on a firm commitment from Israel to allow unfettered movement through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt after Israeli troops leave the Gaza Strip next week. It was not immediately clear whether they would accept the plan adopted Wednesday.

The Cabinet ministers decided that Israel would leave a narrow military patrol road on the Gaza-Egypt border next week, along with the withdrawal of soldiers from Gaza. After the pullout, Israel will no longer have a presence at Rafah.

Israel proposed that Rafah be closed for six months. During that period, Palestinian travelers and goods would move through two alternate, Israeli-controlled crossings. After six months, Rafah could reopen, Shalom said, and he raised the possibility that foreign inspectors could be deployed at Rafah, in line with long-standing demands by the Palestinians and the international community.

"If we would want at a later time to permit the entry and exit from Rafah to Egypt, and smoothly, we would want a third party there. There is no doubt that the Europeans are very interested to be the third party," Shalom told Israel Radio.

[LionHeart-112]

Go fu.ck a thai who.re..wait u are married to one...who cares what the palestinians do? One thing we aren't interested in is peace with the Jews..main goal is to kill them all or to comitt as much devastation as possible to all ofthem

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

First of all, you are only talking about my wife because you are out of arms reach. You don't even know my wife, so your opinion on her means NOTHING, you ignorant bastard.

I could sit here and say you are the product of some whoring slut in Hargeisa who worked the streets there, but I don't know your mother, so I would not presume I do.

Secondly, the reason why generation after generation of Palestinians has grown up living like animals, has almost no economic future or prospects, and lives in a totally corrupt society, is because they think like you. Until the Palestinians learn to love their children more than they hate the Jews, they will never have a decent civil society.

[LionHeart-112]

^^Is this how you show anger? lol.u sound pathetic. U are right, i dunno your wife and believe me i don't want to know shit about her. But from what i know (the fact she hates muslims), i think she is a who.RE...What do u think you could possibly do to me if i were within a handsreach? empty threats..

BTw, my mom is from the south..not from hargeisa..

As for the palestinians, it's like the black people looting during riots and disasters..They have opressed and marginalized for decades..They can't even use their airport and take showers until the jews release the water and you r talking to me about corruption???motherfuccer, look at the big picture here..

Hamas is not corrupt nor weak which is most of the palestinians trust them. Hamas will do the job.

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

She doesn't like Muslims because they are killing innocent people by the hundreds in her country. She resents that.

[LionHeart-112]

^^Sounds like she is a pretty dumb person. Does she know what her government is doing hte muslims in teh south? Is she aware of the situation of muslims in Burma? Phillipines?

JUST ADMIT SHE IS A BIGOT LIKE YOU AND WE GET ON WITH OUR DAY..Why is it so hard for oyu white people to just admit what you feel? U lie and then backstap...

cowards.

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

My wife is anything other than a bigot. And government repression is not justification for killing any Joe on the street. The ethnic Malays in the South have resisted assimilation, and this has been the root cause of the conflict. As I have said many times before, if you fail to assimilate, you are heading for trouble. That's natures law, not mine.

It's funny how Muslims are in conflict WITH EVERYONE around them, and yet each time you offer an excuse, how it's not their fault. They act like animals (like in Beslan, or AQs endless acts of savagery) and each time there's an excuse or rationalization.

[LionHeart-112]

Well assimilation is how you lose your identity..That will never happen to most muslims..We are too special to lose our identity..And muslims aren;t the only communities resisting assmiliation..look at the hasidic jews in brooklyn an bronx..no1 says shit to them...but we can't have muslims living separately..OH NO NO..THat's a big mistake..

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

Are you kidding, everyone can't stand Hasidic Jews. Fortunately their numbers are small and unobtrusive.

Like I said, assimilation is natures law. It's as simple as that. You can love it or hate it, resist it or not, but that changes nothing. If you want to be Muslim first and Thai second, you can do that. But don't expect there not to be repurcussions to your choice. Same if you live in Russian, America or wherever. Societies have certain expectations of their citizens and one of them is that they conform to the societal norms. Muslims have these same expectations in their societies. During Ramadan, for example, when I was in Somalia I did not sit around on a street corner munching on something. I would never kiss a woman in public there. Those violate their social norms. When in Rome, do as the Romans. The more you violate social norms, the more you stand out, the more you invite unwanted attention. Like I said, this is natures law, not mine.

[LionHeart-112]

Dude..we all know the truth behind all this shit..we are just too politically correct to say it..every1 is afraid of the muslims and their numbers..period.

[gurey25]

[quote="MAD MAC"]First of all, you are only talking about my wife because you are out of arms reach. You don't even know my wife, so your opinion on her means NOTHING, you ignorant bastard.

I could sit here and say you are the product of some whoring slut in Hargeisa who worked the streets there, but I don't know your mother, so I would not presume I do.

Secondly, the reason why generation after generation of Palestinians has grown up living like animals, has almost no economic future or prospects, and lives in a totally corrupt society, is because they think like you. Until the Palestinians learn to love their children more than they hate the Jews, they will never have a decent civil society.[/quote]


thats a good example of racism.
insinuating that palestinains dont love thier children,
just like the sub human scum the isrealis protry them to be.

Palestinians and arabs in general have a leadership problem,
and need to look carefully in the mirror.

[optimist_1]

[quote="LionHeart-112"]Go fu.ck a thai who.re..wait u are married to one...[/quote]

thats soo mean

[LionHeart-112]

^^hey, i do try my best.

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

Gurey
I agree with the leadership problem. BUT, that doesn't explain everything. There is no getting around the fact that the majority of Palestinians feel as Lion here does. You ask the average woman in the street if she wants peace and she'll tell you yes, I pray for it daily. All the things you'd expect her to say. Then ask her if she'd be willing to accept a political agreement with the state of Israel to have that peace and you hear "with those criminals and thieves, I'd rather die first." The Palestinians don't want peace, they want victory, they want power. The fighting and killing go on because they want it to. And they are urged on from Muslims across the globe who believe that killing Jews is a religious obligation.

This cuts to the core of the issue with Muslims. Lion here says that everyone fears their numbers. Not true. Muslim numbers are smaller than Christian numbers, and yet no one is concerned about the numbers of Christians. Fundamentalist Muslims are trying to impose a political agenda on the world. They regard all other political systems and faiths as fundamentally illegitimate. This is the root cause of the resentment.

Until Muslims come to grips with this, they will forever find themselves in conflict in a world that is less and less likely to tolerate their very existence. This backlash is the inevitable consequence of ceaseless confrontation.

[LionHeart-112]

Jews have no place in Palestine.....their time is over.

FYI:no1 is scared of christians becaue the majority are christians by name only..most of them don't do what the bible says..they are christians when they get married or some1 dies....so they aren't a thread..