The vultures are about to land : Israel & US fomenting civil war in Palestine

galway | anti-war / imperialism | other press Thursday November 02, 2006 23:57 by TJ - Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Avigdor Lieberman : Israel should act "like the Russians in Chechnya".

A blood bath, fomented, aided and abetted by the US and Israel between Fatah and Hamas now sems to be in the offing?.

Since August, at a compound in Jericho where reporters were recently barred access. General Keith Dayton, the American "security coordinator in the territories", is arming and training Presidential Guard of PA Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas "for a confrontation with Hamas, which the United States believes is inevitable".(Haaretz).

Palestinians carry the body of 21-year-old Bassem al-Jammal during his funeral in Gaza City, 2 November 2006. Al-Jamal was a Hamas activist killed by Israeli forces. (MaanImages/Wesam Saleh)

According to activist and Oxford University Refugee Studies Centre fellow, Jennifer Loewenstein, "there is clearly a circle of people around Abbas, not necessarily Abbas himself, but around Abbas, people such as Muhammad Dahlan, who have never accepted the Hamas government itself in any case and have been provoking skirmishes since January, basically, between the two factions ... What is significant, however, is that this group of people around Abbas has no popular support. In fact, their support has dropped even further, even more below the situation in January, when the election results came in and Hamas had gotten a victory" (Democracy Now).

Today, the Israeli security cabinet, in advance of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's visit to Washington in 10 days time adopted a number of resolutions at the behest of the US : "positive consideration" was given to the PA's request to transfer thousands of rifles from Egypt and Jordan to Abbas' forces, as well as to America's request that Israel allow the Badr Brigade - a wing of the Palestine Liberation Army that is currently stationed in Jordan - to relocate to the territories - Israel has previously refused to admit the Badr Brigade, but Dayton wants to turn it into Abbas' rapid reaction force in Gaza.

Attending his first cabinet meeting, ethnic cleanser manque, Avigdor Lieberman, opined that Israel should act "like the Russians in Chechnya.