04-06-2018, 10:34 PM
*** 7-Apr-18 World View -- Gaza Palestinians burn tires to hide protests from Israel's army
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Gaza Palestinians burn tires to hide protests from Israel's army
****
![[Image: g180406b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180406b.jpg)
A Gaza protester wears a tire on his head with an onion (to protect himself from tear gas) dangling from it (al-Jazeera)
In the Muslim world, protests usually occur on Fridays, when
worshippers pour out of mosques after Friday prayers.
On Friday, March 30, Land Day protests in Gaza
led to numerous violent clashes with Israel's
army, when Gaza protesters threatened to break through the border
fence with Israel. The first used teargas to stop the protesters,
then live gunfire. 16 Palestinians were killed, and 1,400 wounded.
On Friday, April 6, the number of protests appeared to be considerably
reduced, although the protesters used new tactics. Protesters burned
tires creating massive conflagrations at five different points along
the border.
The purpose of burning the tires was to create black, thick smoke that
would make it impossible for Israel's army to see where the protesters
were attempting to break through the border fence. The army used
water cannons to put out the fires, and giant fans to disperse smoke.
Live gunfire was also used to stop the protesters, with the result
that seven Palestinians were shot dead and over 200 more were wounded.
The only good news about this situation is that these numbers were
sharply lower than last week.
Although Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, is encouraging
protests on a continuing basis, the protests are all relatively minor
except for the final one: The major event will occur on May 15, Naqba
Day (Catastrophe Day), commemorating the creation of Israel in 1948.
YNet News (Israel) and Reuters and Al Jazeera
****
**** Hamas and Fatah/PLO criticized for contradictory strategies
****
Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, has come under increasing
criticism for the policies it's pursuing in Gaza. Even Arab analysts
on television have criticized Hamas for having no apparent strategy at
all except to encourage protesters, including women and children, to
attempt to break through the border wall and risk getting shot and
killed, with no advantage to them, to the Palestinians or to Hamas for
the bloodshed.
The Hamas government in Gaza has an entirely different strategy than
the Palestinian Authority (PA) - Fatah - Palestinian Liberation
Organization (PLO) government in the West Bank, led by Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas's strategy is the elimination of Israel, and so the Gaza
protests are being pursued with the intention of leading to an armed
conflict that Israel would lose. By contrast, Abbas's strategy is
full recognition of the state of Palestine existing side-by-side with
Israel, and is pursuing peaceful protests in order to gain
international support for Palestine.
The problem for the Palestinians is that they can't make any progress
at all unless Hamas and Fatah have a joint strategy. Negotiations for
a Hamas-Fatah unity government that began after the 67 day Israel-Gaza
war in 2014 have failed completely, largely because Hamas and Fatah
have completely different intentions about destroying Israel versus
living with Israel.
The 27th conference of the Arab Parliament Federation met on Friday in
Jeddah and stated the usual policies -- support for an independent
state of Palestine with its capital in Jerusalem, and condemnation of
Israeli attacks on Palestinian people and their land, sanctuaries and
properties. They also demanded that the international community put
pressure on Israel to stops its crimes in Palestine.
But all of that is completely meaningless, because those policies are
subordinate to the major policy: unifying the Arab position toward
major issues — the Palestinian cause and combating terror.
And there is no unity on the Arab position. What's the "Palestinian
cause," when the Palestinians don't even know what it means. What
does "combating terror" mean when Hamas is internationally considered
to be a terror organization, calling for the destruction of Israel.
And then of course there's the issue of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian
Authority president. Abbas is 82 years old, was born in 1935, and
lived through World War II and the bloody wars between Jews and Arabs
that followed the 1948 partitioning of Palestine and the creation of
the state of Israel. Having lived though that horrific war, Abbas has
been a major force in maintaining a semblance of peace between the
Palestinians and Israelis.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the reason that Abbas
and Fatah are far more moderate than Hamas is because Abbas lived
through the horrors if the Arab-Jewish war of 1948, and does not want
to see it happen again. Younger leaders, in both Gaza and the West
Bank, would have no such inhibitions. I believe that Abbas himself
understands this, and that's why he hasn't stepped down even though
he's been in declining health. But his death or retirement would
bring new, younger leadership into power, and that could well mean a
new, massive, bloody war between Jews and Arabs.
Generational Dynamics predicts that the approaching Clash of
Civilizations world war will pit China, Pakistan and the Sunni Muslim
countries against the US, India, Russia and Iran. In the Mideast,
Generational Dynamics predicts a full-scale Mideast war, pitting Jews
against Arabs, Sunnis against Shias, and various ethnic groups against
each other. Al Monitor (13-Mar) and Arab News and
AFP and i24 News (Israel)
Related Articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Gaza, Hamas, Naqba, Catastrophe,
West Bank, Palestinian Authority, PA, - Fatah,
Palestinian Liberation Organization, PLO, Mahmoud Abbas,
Arab Parliament Federation
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Gaza Palestinians burn tires to hide protests from Israel's army
- Hamas and Fatah/PLO criticized for contradictory strategies
****
**** Gaza Palestinians burn tires to hide protests from Israel's army
****
A Gaza protester wears a tire on his head with an onion (to protect himself from tear gas) dangling from it (al-Jazeera)
In the Muslim world, protests usually occur on Fridays, when
worshippers pour out of mosques after Friday prayers.
On Friday, March 30, Land Day protests in Gaza
led to numerous violent clashes with Israel's
army, when Gaza protesters threatened to break through the border
fence with Israel. The first used teargas to stop the protesters,
then live gunfire. 16 Palestinians were killed, and 1,400 wounded.
On Friday, April 6, the number of protests appeared to be considerably
reduced, although the protesters used new tactics. Protesters burned
tires creating massive conflagrations at five different points along
the border.
The purpose of burning the tires was to create black, thick smoke that
would make it impossible for Israel's army to see where the protesters
were attempting to break through the border fence. The army used
water cannons to put out the fires, and giant fans to disperse smoke.
Live gunfire was also used to stop the protesters, with the result
that seven Palestinians were shot dead and over 200 more were wounded.
The only good news about this situation is that these numbers were
sharply lower than last week.
Although Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, is encouraging
protests on a continuing basis, the protests are all relatively minor
except for the final one: The major event will occur on May 15, Naqba
Day (Catastrophe Day), commemorating the creation of Israel in 1948.
YNet News (Israel) and Reuters and Al Jazeera
****
**** Hamas and Fatah/PLO criticized for contradictory strategies
****
Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, has come under increasing
criticism for the policies it's pursuing in Gaza. Even Arab analysts
on television have criticized Hamas for having no apparent strategy at
all except to encourage protesters, including women and children, to
attempt to break through the border wall and risk getting shot and
killed, with no advantage to them, to the Palestinians or to Hamas for
the bloodshed.
The Hamas government in Gaza has an entirely different strategy than
the Palestinian Authority (PA) - Fatah - Palestinian Liberation
Organization (PLO) government in the West Bank, led by Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas's strategy is the elimination of Israel, and so the Gaza
protests are being pursued with the intention of leading to an armed
conflict that Israel would lose. By contrast, Abbas's strategy is
full recognition of the state of Palestine existing side-by-side with
Israel, and is pursuing peaceful protests in order to gain
international support for Palestine.
The problem for the Palestinians is that they can't make any progress
at all unless Hamas and Fatah have a joint strategy. Negotiations for
a Hamas-Fatah unity government that began after the 67 day Israel-Gaza
war in 2014 have failed completely, largely because Hamas and Fatah
have completely different intentions about destroying Israel versus
living with Israel.
The 27th conference of the Arab Parliament Federation met on Friday in
Jeddah and stated the usual policies -- support for an independent
state of Palestine with its capital in Jerusalem, and condemnation of
Israeli attacks on Palestinian people and their land, sanctuaries and
properties. They also demanded that the international community put
pressure on Israel to stops its crimes in Palestine.
But all of that is completely meaningless, because those policies are
subordinate to the major policy: unifying the Arab position toward
major issues — the Palestinian cause and combating terror.
And there is no unity on the Arab position. What's the "Palestinian
cause," when the Palestinians don't even know what it means. What
does "combating terror" mean when Hamas is internationally considered
to be a terror organization, calling for the destruction of Israel.
And then of course there's the issue of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian
Authority president. Abbas is 82 years old, was born in 1935, and
lived through World War II and the bloody wars between Jews and Arabs
that followed the 1948 partitioning of Palestine and the creation of
the state of Israel. Having lived though that horrific war, Abbas has
been a major force in maintaining a semblance of peace between the
Palestinians and Israelis.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the reason that Abbas
and Fatah are far more moderate than Hamas is because Abbas lived
through the horrors if the Arab-Jewish war of 1948, and does not want
to see it happen again. Younger leaders, in both Gaza and the West
Bank, would have no such inhibitions. I believe that Abbas himself
understands this, and that's why he hasn't stepped down even though
he's been in declining health. But his death or retirement would
bring new, younger leadership into power, and that could well mean a
new, massive, bloody war between Jews and Arabs.
Generational Dynamics predicts that the approaching Clash of
Civilizations world war will pit China, Pakistan and the Sunni Muslim
countries against the US, India, Russia and Iran. In the Mideast,
Generational Dynamics predicts a full-scale Mideast war, pitting Jews
against Arabs, Sunnis against Shias, and various ethnic groups against
each other. Al Monitor (13-Mar) and Arab News and
AFP and i24 News (Israel)
Related Articles:
- Mideast Roadmap - Will it bring peace? (01-May-2003)
- Gaza Palestinian 'Land Day' demonstrations lead to violence with Israel's army (01-Apr-2018)
- US embassy to Jerusalem will commemorate Israel's founding -- Palestinian 'Naqba Day' (24-Feb-2018)
- Palestinian reconciliation talks ignore Hamas commitment to destroy Israel (12-Oct-2017)
- Channeling Sisyphus, Trump and Abbas say Mideast peace not as hard as it looks (04-May-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Gaza, Hamas, Naqba, Catastrophe,
West Bank, Palestinian Authority, PA, - Fatah,
Palestinian Liberation Organization, PLO, Mahmoud Abbas,
Arab Parliament Federation
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
