First, a very solid column about how the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and much of the West Bank have an unprecedented opportunity — control of their own destiny.
Now, it’s the Palestinians’ turn
But now, after the last Israeli has come home, the disengagement has ceased to be an Israeli event. Now, after the gate of the Kissufim checkpoint has been locked, the disengagement has become a Palestinian event. The exclamation point that Ariel Sharon placed at the gates of Gaza has been replaced by an unprecedented Palestinian question mark. The Israeli withdrawal vacated an arena in which a fateful Palestinian drama is about to be played out.
The Palestinians are trying to blur this decisive fact. They are behaving as if nothing has happened. They continue to use the old, anachronistic rhetoric that has become so nauseatingly familiar. They continue to claim that the Israeli withdrawal is incomplete and insufficient. They continue to declare that the struggle will continue until every bit of Palestinian land has been liberated. And even worse: by torching the synagogues and storming the Philadelphi route, they are signaling that they do not intend to behave as a responsible state.
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Freedom creates obligations – even when it is only partial. Now, when the Palestinians have been given freedom such as they have never known before, they also bear responsibility such as they have never known before. Their relationship with Israel is changing. It is no longer just that of occupier and occupied. It is no longer just that of master and servant. That is why the spotlight of history is now focused on those very Palestinians who have begun to be masters of their own fate. That is why all eyes are now fixed on liberated Gaza. Because now, the decisive question is what the Palestinians’ choice will be.
Go give it a gander. It’s certainly true that the onus has been squarely placed upon Palestinian society, and it’s certainly true that I have little faith in that being a good thing, at least until major reforms are in place and allowed to take root over a couple of decades. Unfortunately, I have yet to see serious signs of those reforms even beginning.
Speaking of beginnings, de-occupied Gaza is certainly off to a shaky start.
Palestinians’ pullout celebration ends in disorder
Gunmen firing in the air disrupted a Palestinian Authority rally celebrating Israel’s pullout from Gaza and the gathering ended in chaos on Wednesday when traditional Muslims stoned the stage in protest.
Abbas, struggling to impose order to win backing for Palestinian statehood, cancelled plans to address the rally, reflecting concern about militant rivals within his fractured Fatah movement and opposition Islamists led by Hamas.
A speech by an Abbas aide calling for an end to armed chaos was marred by Fatah gunmen parading across the stage and firing assault rifles in the air. This prompted Hamas activists to walk out from what had been billed as a show of Palestinian unity.
The rally ended in disorder when devoutly Muslim refugees dominating the crowd of several thousand stoned the stage in protest at a rap music band’s failure to stick to nationalist songs. The performers fled, gunmen firing over their heads.
Palestinian security forces took charge in abandoned Jewish settlements earlier in the day, ending looting and destruction following Monday’s withdrawal. But the messy rally suggested they had a way to go to rein in lawlessness.
It’s not a good sign for the rule of law when a government’s staged rally cannot even be controlled. Sure, the madness and looting was stopped at the empty settlements but, after two days of banditry, I expect satiation and exhaustion had as much a role in the cessation as did security forces.
Meanwhile, hopes for an outbreak of peace upon Israeli withdrawal, hopes which I never held, took a hit from an Egyptian revelation.
Arms cache found in 4km Gaza tunnel
Egyptian security forces have discovered a tunnel filled with weapons underneath the border with the Gaza Strip.
The arms cache was found just days after Israeli troops pulled out of the border zone.
An Egyptian official says dozens of machine guns and 2,800 rocket-propelled grenades were found inside the tunnel.
Stretching four kilometres under the Egypt-Gaza border, the tunnel was discovered by newly deployed Egyptian soldiers.
News flash: those weapons were not headed to the supposedly-ruling Palestinian Authority, nor were they intended to promote peaceful stability. The Israelis are the obvious targets, but the P.A. may soon also find itself on the wrong end of other smuggled weaponry.