January 07, 2007

Palestinian Muslim Bloodsports

Folks, when a Muslim kills a Jew, it's legal, but when a Muslim kills a Muslim, it's illegal. Clearly, identity politics are at work here, and not morality nor ethics. Extracted from FoxNews:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday declared Hamas' paramilitary militia in the Gaza Strip illegal, raising the stakes in his standoff with the Islamic movement that controls the Palestinian parliament and Interior Ministry.

Hamas retaliated by saying it would double the size of the Hamas militia in the Gaza Strip.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said the unit would be doubled to 12,000 members. He said Interior Minister Said Siyam made the decision "in view of the ongoing security deterioration."

Abbas' announcement came two days after members of the Hamas force attacked the home of a senior security commander in Gaza, killing the man and seven of his bodyguards. The man was a member of the Preventive Security force, which is loyal to Abbas' Fatah party.

In retaliation, gunmen attacked Hamas officials in two separate incidents in the West Bank on Saturday.

In the first incident, gunmen stopped the car of Nablus' deputy mayor, Mahdi al-Khamdali, pulled him out and took him away in a separate car, security officials said. Al-Khamdali is a member of Hamas. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the officials said they believed the kidnappers were supporters of the rival Fatah group.

Meanwhile, a local Muslim leader who was a frequent critic of the Islamic militant group Hamas was killed in a drive-by shooting Friday as he walked out of a Gaza mosque, witnesses and medical officials said as violence seemed to be spiraling out control in the area.

There was no claim of responsibility in the death of Adel Nasar, who was shot by gunmen who were waiting in a car outside the mosque in the Mughazi refugee camp in central Gaza. Nasar was not openly affiliated with any political party, but he was a well-known in the refugee camp and often spoke against Hamas in his sermons.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas met early Friday in Gaza and agreed to work to defuse the tensions and pull back their forces, Haniyeh told reporters. "We are going to end all armed displays in the streets," he said. Abbas had no comment.

The body of Col. Mohammed Ghayeb, chief of the Preventive Security Service in northern Gaza, riddled with bullets and mutilated by stab wounds, was found in his home in northern Gaza Thursday after a daylong battle with Hamas gunmen. The killing of the senior officer was likely to spark reprisal raids.

In several places in the West Bank late Thursday, Fatah militants attacked Hamas offices and vehicles. One Hamas activist was wounded, Palestinian security officials said.

Ghayeb was on the phone to Palestine TV just moments before his death and appealed for help as his house came under attack. "They are killers," he said of the Hamas gunmen. "They are targeting the house, children are dying, they are bleeding. For God's sake, send an ambulance, we want an ambulance, somebody move."

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