In case of a Fatah vs Hamas civil war, will Israel support Fatah with arms,

[Flabbergasted]

cash etc....?


Why Fatah and Hamas hate each other
By Tim Butcher, Middle East Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:22pm GMT 15/12/2006



Hamas defiant as Gaza slides towards civil war
The battle between Fatah and Hamas is the battle between old and new, moderation and extremism, secular pan-Arabism and militant Islam.


Yasser Arafat created Fatah in the 1950s
Much older than its rival, Fatah was created in the 1950s by Yasser Arafat to promote the armed struggle against Israeli control of Palestinian land. The Fatah name, Arabic for conquest, is a reverse acronym of Harakat al-Tahrir al-Filistiniya (Palestinian Liberation Movement).

With a mixture of charisma and ruthlessness, Arafat turned the movement into the dominant party of Palestinian politics over the next four decades.

As pan-Arabism faded in the 1980s, the ideology of Fatah grew more moderate until the historic era of the early 1990s when Arafat turned his back on the armed struggle and signed the Oslo peace accords with Israel.

The Oslo agreement’s acceptance of the right of Israel to exist meant Fatah was giving up its traditionally militant hostility to the Jewish state.

advertisementThis brought a flood of foreign aid money into the occupied territories and with the “winner-takes-all” nature of Palestinian politics. Mr Arafat and his cronies grew not just wealthy but corrupt.

This whiff of corruption grew into a stink that Hamas, an overtly Islamic party, was able to exploit.

Founded on Dec 14 1987, the name Hamas means “zeal” in Arabic and is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement).


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/15/ugaza115.xml

[The Magistrate]

1. To Do So Openly, Sir, Would Be Foolish

But in such an event, the Fatah doubtless would not lack for small arms and cartridges and ready cash....

[Flabbergasted]

2. No country does this openly. But the enemy of their enemy could be their

friend...

Better than having Hamas win.

Very Dangerous situation.

[The Magistrate]

3. Breaking Hamas, Sir, Is Certainly in Israel's Interest

And they will certainly try and assist. It will need to be done with extraordinary care, though. Hamas will accuse the Fatah of being "Zionist pawns" in any case, but real evidence of Israeli assistance will greatly weaken the position of the Fatah leadership in such a civil war.