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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Meltdown: Rival Gangs Violently Vie For Control In PA |
| 2004-11-15 |
| There have been at least three separate clashes between armed Arab factions in the Palestinian Authority (PA) just since the death of PLO leader Yasser Arafat last week. These may be the first signs that previously sporadic battles are set to take a much more violent turn. Last Thursday, for example, rival factions in PA-controlled Jericho were involved in street battles, with an unspecified number of persons taken to the hospital. Today, the PA city of Kalkilye was the scene of gun battles between rival terrorist groups. Preliminary reports indicated that a number of people were wounded in the clashes. Yesterday, PA officials announced that a general election will be held on January 9th. In addition, the Fatah council announced that Abu Mazen will be the only candidate, seeking to eliminate the threat of competing against Marwan Barghouti and others who are setting their sights on the PA leadership role. Barghouti is currently serving consecutive life sentences in Israeli prison for his involvement in terrorist attacks. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #20 Two street battles and no deaths? Bomb-a-rama,these idiots aren't capable of killing themselves unless they strap on the tnt. When they start booming themselves,then I'll know they're serious. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2004-11-15 9:53:15 PM |
| #19 I love Krauthammer's point: the MSM and the "world community" mourn the passing of the great nationalist leader, Arafat. The MSM and the "world community" urge Bush to seize the opportunity for progress represented by the passing of the great nationalist leader, Arafat. Huh? |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-15 7:22:44 PM |
| #18 Fred - pass the popcorn please. :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-11-15 7:21:31 PM |
| #17 Dave D. You think that's bad, I just moved to Pennsylvania from Palo Alto. And all they want to write about in the paper around here is JOE PA. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-15 6:49:21 PM |
| #16 It's all about the land game and GOTV. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-15 6:33:23 PM |
| #15 It's in the microwave now. Get ready for a double feature :) |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-11-15 5:17:44 PM |
| #14 didn't we have a futures on the possibility of a paleo civil war? Sheesh...wish I could have put some money on that sure thing. I feel for the paleo people. Arafat is directly responsible for their miserable "society". If this helps them to realize it is their own leaders and not the Jews who are responsible for their plight -then something good will come out of this impending nightmare. |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-11-15 5:15:36 PM |
| #13 Who cares which one is running for Fatah, Hamas, etc.? all of their "leaders" have bloodied their hands in terrorism. None of them recognizes Israel's unconditional right to exist. So as long they are killing each other, works fine with me. |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2004-11-15 5:11:22 PM |
| #12 mojo..ya took the words right out of my mouth ...so it begins! |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-11-15 4:38:27 PM |
| #11 These guys should all kill each other and let Allah sort it out. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-11-15 4:21:02 PM |
| #10 Yeah, CS, I look forward to da elecshun of Da Mayuh. The arrangement you describe is just fine wit me, as a former denizen of the town that extends from West Rogers Park to the Far South Side. If its the election of |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-11-15 4:13:09 PM |
| #9 Dude, where's my popcorn!! |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2004-11-15 3:56:07 PM |
| #8 LH, if I can add that Fatah controls the money and infrastructure so whatever person they nominate, will be the defacto President. This is of course contingent on 'fair' elections again controlled by Fatah. The PA un Ambassador was pleading for Israeli and U.S. help conduct elections in 60 days. What he really wants is someone to keep the thugs down (or kill them) so they can legitimize the next terror leader. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2004-11-15 3:48:25 PM |
| #7 dish and alan Actually i think they meant one Fatah party candidate, which would rule out Bargouti, Dahlan, Abu Alaa, etc. There will be at least one independent running, and Hamas might run, if they dont decide to boycott. And Bargouti may yet run anyway. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-11-15 3:37:26 PM |
| #6 Re: #3 Could one of the esteemed Rantbugarians please explain to me this concept of one candidate elections? Since I'm a member of the red-necked idiots club (despite living in the most blue of states)I'm not sure how this works. Since there's only one choice do they just pre-mark the ballots? Is there a "None of the above" line? Or do they use "Diebold" machines? Just asking. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2004-11-15 3:25:45 PM |
| #5 "So. It begins." |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-11-15 3:21:59 PM |
| #4 Hopefully, they beat the crap out of each other so badly that all they can do is throw spitballs at each other and ignore Israel entirely. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2004-11-15 3:19:24 PM |
| #3 "Abu Mazen will be the only candidate" 'nuff said. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2004-11-15 3:01:52 PM |
| #2 "Meltdown: Rival Gangs Violently Vie For Control In PA" Whew. Until I read the body of the article, I thought this was going on right here in Philadelphia. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-11-15 3:00:58 PM |
#1 One photo of the meltdown in Post-Arafat-Land  |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-11-15 2:51:34 PM |