Palestinians long for Israel occupation in Gaza

Haaretz:

The general collapse of government functions in the Gaza Strip Tuesday urged several senior Palestinian figures to seriously contemplate Professor Ali Jarbawi's advice to disband the Palestinian Authority.

Even before the civil war which Hamas and Fatah are starting in the Strip, Professor Jarbawi of Bir Zeit University maintained that the Palestinian Authority was a mere illusion of power: occupation under the guise of self government, and therefore useless.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian journalist likened the Palestinian Authority to a smoke-belching car wreck, adding that it was time to toss the keys to the Israelis. His view is shared by many Palestinian civilians in Gaza, who in recent days have told the media that they are fed up. "We've had enough, we should be so lucky as to see the return of the Israeli occupation."

The recent events we have been witnessing in Gaza are actually the disbanding of Palestinian rule. The primary reason for the break-up is the fact that Fatah, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has refused to fully share the PA's mechanism of power with its rival Hamas - in spite of Hamas' decisive victory in the January 2006 general elections.

Fatah was forced to overrule the Palestinian voters because the entire world demanded it do so. The United States, the European nations, most of the Arab leaders and, of course, the State of Israel, warned Fatah not to share power with Hamas.

And so, after the Israeli pullout, instead of becoming a model for Palestinian self-rule, Gaza turned into the exact opposite. Matters have come to the point where Hamas operatives attempted all through Monday and Tuesday to take by force what they believe they rightfully deserve.

Abbas is maintaining that over the last couple of days, Hamas has been attempting to stage a coup. Everyone following the events share this opinion.

...
It was so much easier when Israel could be blamed as the designated scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in the Palestinian community. With Palestinians fleeing the area now that they have self rule, the smarter ones may have already left. While there is some speculation in Israel that the Palestinian authority will fall to pieces, I think a more likely event is that it will depart Gaza too, and work with Israel on the west bank to keep Hamas out.

Israel says it will not intervene at this point.

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