NYT: War on Hamas Saps Palestinian Leaders

[stranger81]

Israel hoped that the war in Gaza would not only cripple Hamas, but eventually strengthen its secular rival, the Palestinian Authority, and even allow it to claw its way back into Gaza.

But with each day, the authority, its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and its leading party, Fatah, seem increasingly beleaguered and marginalized, even in the Palestinian cities of the West Bank, which they control. Protesters accuse Mr. Abbas of not doing enough to stop the carnage in Gaza — indeed, his own police officers have used clubs and tear gas against those same protesters.

The more bombs in Gaza, the more Hamas’s support seems to be growing at the expense of the Palestinian Authority, already considered corrupt and distant from average Palestinians.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/world/middleeast/15fatah.html

[bunnies]

1. I find it hard to believe that Israel didnt see this coming.

I guess Bush isnt the only one who didnt learn jack-shit from the disaster in Iraq.

[Idealism]

2. Israel has done nothing but play with fire regarding Palestinian politics

They back one side, and when that side wins, they try to destroy them.

[GoesTo11]

3. Sure sapped Said Siam