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| Middle East |
| PA Gen. Masri: We can stop Hamas, but won't |
| 2002-10-01 |
| Courtesy of Steve... The Palestinian Authority has the strength but not the will to smash terrorist groups and their support networks in the Gaza Strip, a top PA security official said yesterday. Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Masri, head of the Political Security Department at the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, said the long-awaited crackdown on Hamas promised by former PA interior minister Abdel Razek Yahya will likely never happen. We guessed that. But we appreciate the old guy trying... As part of a sweeping set of reforms that began in late June, the PA has sought both to centralize its myriad security services and to rein in Hamas, responsible for more than half of all Israeli deaths due to terrorist attacks in the past two years of conflict. "We have enough men and arms, but not political horizon and no incentive, to enter into bloody conflict with other Palestinians," said Masri from his office at the PA's GIS building just north of Gaza City. The PA security establishment sees no compelling reason to confront either Hamas, whose popularity is soaring, or the other Palestinian rejectionist groups. For this reason, Masri does not anticipate the ending of terrorist attacks in Israel in the near future. Abject fear has something to do with that reluctance, plus the philosophy that all Arabs are above any kind of reproach and can't be held responsible for their own actions. Add in the feeling of being on the same side, and the result is a determined inertia. Taking on Hamas at this juncture, with January's Palestinian elections looming, would be political suicide, added the general. "The Palestinian street shows great support for Hamas and other groups opposing the PA, so we prefer to use other, more democratic methods," he said. Like shooting up people's houses... "Capabilities and principle are two different things. Besides ending the occupation, our major goal is not to be labeled collaborators," said Masri. That's the abject fear part. We know what happens to collaborators... For this reason, he added, his men are much more actively engaged in protecting themselves — against both Israel and the opposition groups — than they are in breaking the terrorist infrastructure, which many Palestinians consider the backbone of the Gaza Strip. "Why should we be responsible for security in Tel Aviv," asked Masri, "when we have enough trouble protecting our own people against Israel?" There's no concept like "duty, honor, country" to be found in this bunch. They will never be anything but street thugs with uniforms until there is. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |