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Israel-Palestine
Paleo vs. Paleo in Gaza: Rioters and Police and Bulldozers, oh my!
2005-09-17
Palestinian riot police fired in the crowd air Saturday to keep back dozens of stone-throwing trespassers, and cranes and bulldozers plugged breaches along the porous Gaza-Egypt border, in the first signs of a clampdown after days of chaos. The fate of the border and a new Israeli demand that the terrorist group Hamas be barred from upcoming Palestinian elections are expected to be raised at an upcoming meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. A summit is tentatively set for Oct. 2, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Saturday.

The border mayhem is emerging as Abbas' most immediate failure test as he tries to assert control in Gaza after the Israeli withdrawal a week ago. Thousands have crossed between Gaza and Egypt in recent days, virtually without controls, to shop or reunite with relatives after years of separation, but also to smuggle weapons and drugs. Abbas is faced with a dilemma. He needs to secure freedom of movement for his people ahead of parliament elections in January, and that means keeping the Gaza-Egypt border open. However, the chaos increasingly makes him look weak as if that could be worse in the eyes of the world, and will make it tougher to negotiate a future border deal with Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Israel Radio that recent events in Gaza "were not encouraging," and that it's unlikely Israel will make more concessions if the Gaza experiment fails.

On Saturday morning, helmeted Palestinian riot police patrolled the border strip, checking documents and bags of Palestinians returning from Egypt. Police also prevented Gazans from entering Egypt, witnesses said. At one point, dozens of Gazans waiting at the border threw stones at police, who fired in the air for several minutes and threw stones back at the crowd.
"I can throw bigger stones than you can. I used to be a rioter, too."
Wonder if any of 'em can throw a slider.
Later in the day, Palestinian bulldozers and cranes began closing holes in the border barriers. A crane piled large cement blocks on top of each other. On the Egyptian side, border guards rolled out barbed wire to keep out trespassers.

Abbas said Friday evening, after a meeting with senior Egyptian officials, that he hoped to restore order along the border in coming days. However, the Palestinians say they can only do so if the border's Rafah crossing — closed by Israel as part of the pullout — is reopened quickly for terrorist attacks passenger traffic. Israel says Rafah needs to remain closed for at least six months, both for a technological update and to test Abbas' ability to control terrorists militants in Gaza. In the meantime, traffic from Gaza would be routed through alternate Israeli-controlled crossings. The Palestinians have rejected the proposal.
OK. Then stay there.
In another sign of a clampdown, Palestinian police on Saturday arrested six Palestinians for looting greenhouses in abandoned Jewish settlements. American Jewish donors had bought more than 3,000 greenhouses from Israeli settlers for $14 million and transferred them to the Palestinians to secure thousands of farming jobs. In recent days, officials estimated looters had taken about 30 percent of the greenhouse equipment and wrecked most of the rest.

Sharon told The New York Times that if Hamas runs, Israel could make it difficult for Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank to reach polling stations, by not easing travel restrictions on the day of the vote. "I don't think they (Palestinians) can have elections without our help," Sharon told the newspaper.
Oh, that's going to help. "Abdul owes his election to the Joooooooooooos. [bang][bang]
"Way to go, Abdul, now remember, you owe us."
Hamas is responsible for dozens of deadly terrorist attacks on Israelis in the past two decades, and Hamas terrorist leaders have said the terrorist group will continue to build its private terrorist army and carry out terrorist attacks in Israeli-controlled areas. Abbas hopes Hamas, which is expected to make a strong showing in the election, will eventually transform itself into a political party and disband its armed wing.
I hope the lion will lie down with the lamb. Abbas and I are both going to be disappointed.
Posted by:Jackal

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Posted by: Shipman   2005-09-17 19:30  

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