Dace wrote:
>
> So, the Palestinian police are firing at Israeli troops, standing right
> alongside demonstrators, while at the same time they're shutting down media
> promoting demonstrations. And what could it possibly mean that they're
> barring newspaper ads from the Fatah calling for more protests? Isn't
> Arafat in charge of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority?
>
There are different wings of Fatah. Arafat loyalists are called 'Fatah Hawks' then there is Abu Musa's Fatah-Intifada and the late Abu Nidal's Fatah-Revolutionary Council (both supported by Syria). There has been intense opposition within Fatah to the old warlord of West BEirut, Arafat and his henchmen, at least since the PLO's relocation to Beirut in the early 70's. This erupted into violence in Tripoli in '84 and Beirut in '88 when there were attempted coups against Arafat mostly over control of the camps in Lebanon. The opposition regards Arafat as a sell-out and did not like his 'backroom' dealings with the Phalange and the Israeli's (amongst other). Both Fatah and the PLO in general have been calling for Arafat's resignation at least since '92.
An elected Fatah official in the PA said recently that "we are slowing winning our rights from Arafat." Many former 'Fatah-Hawks' have now swung against the godfather regarding him as most other Palestinians do, as a sell-out. Ironically, the only real support Arafat has now is in the State Dpt. and among Israeli doves. Even Arafat loyalists like Faisal Husseini are criticizing the godfather sharply.The infighting, corruption, personal power plays and opportunism of Fatah and the PLO in general have resulted in large support for Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, which whatever else they are, are not corrupt and are fair in their own way. They mean what they say.
Fatah is the main faction in the PA (which used to be called the PLO) the others being ,such as the Marxist-Leninist groups DFLP and PFLP, opposed to Oslo and Arafat. Most of the Palestinian police and secret service (the largest per population in the world) are Arafat loyalists and former Fedayeen gunmen from Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Tunis and even Jordan. Most them were born and raised in refugee camps and know little about the communities in the occupied territories.
There is intense opposition To the PA from Palestinian NGO's, unions and human rights groups who do not like living under a mafia. Schoolteachers in the territories have been waging militant political strikes against the PA for some time now. Then, of course, there is the Islamic Resistance who have their own "Martyrs Brigade" who murder "collaborators with the Zionist entity." i.e. members of the PA and the police/secret services.
On the subject of the Middle East, it looks like the Islamic Resistance has finally pushed the IDF right out of Lebanon. Looks like the IR will control the whole former 'buffer zone' within a few days with the IDF proxy, the SLA, collapsing like cards. It will be important what happens next. Now Israel's nightmare has come true and it's their own fault: an Islamic fundamentalist state on its borders who view Israel as a collective Salmon Rushdie. Rumors are circulating that Iran has brokered a deal between Hamas, I-Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Jibril wing of the PFLP to conduct "armed struggle" (probably cross border raids and shelling) against Israel. If this does occur Israel might invade Lebanon again.
Sam Pawlett