Many Fatah officials blamed Hamas, which denied any involvement.
This is extremely ugly stuff, suggesting a civil war is coming. The Washington Post reports more trouble today, with four Fatah protestors being shot by Hamas militiamen.
Saleh Hammad, a local Fatah leader, said the demonstration was peaceful, though he acknowledged that some children had provoked the Hamas militiamen by throwing rocks at them.
"Even if one or a few children lost their temper and stoned the members of the unit, this is not a reason to be fired at," he said.
The irony here is vicious. Fatah, which has long waged war against Israeli children, suddenly finds the killing of children abhorent. An old Palestinian game has been to throw stones at Israeli soldiers and whine that they are exempt from retaliation. Now they are discovering the joys of having that argument turned on themselves. But irony here is cheap talk. Is there any chance of any good coming out of these murders? Maybe. First, I note that none of the stories I have read, including the Guardian, the BBC, even Bobby Fisk's Independent, have wasted any time trying to blame Israel for this mess. Blaming everyone else is a hugely destructive Middle Eastern pathology. It is destructive because it blocks actually fixing things. Maybe this time it will improve. The International Herald Tribune reports:
Grieving women called into local radio stations, while newspaper editorials criticized Palestinian leaders for allowing security to deteriorate.
"Are we the brave heroes or are we the terrorists the media speaks of," sobbed one woman who called a Gaza radio station.
Recognizing you have a problem is not a sufficient condition for fixing it, but it is a necessary one.Posted by sjostrom on December 12, 2006 07:34 AM
