In article ,
Chad Irby wrote:

In article ,
K. A. Cannon wrote:

What ever happened to peaceful civil disobedience protests?
What the **** would Israel do if the Palestinians ever get a Martin
Luther King?

They'd probably get to bury him after Hamas kills him.

After observing this situation for a while I agree that the most
effective way for the Palestinians to get Isreal to give them more of
what they demand is to go peacenik. At the begining of Clancy's book
"Sum of all Fears" he has the Palestinians doing this. If Isreal failed
to get on the brakes fast enough and tone down their side of the
dispute, world opinion would quickly swing against them. TV footage of
Palestinians being hurt or killed by Isreali bulldozers or tanks would
be far more helpful to their cause then marterdom.

The Hamas leaders probably know this but the strugle gives them an
important role in their power structure and continuing the strugle for
as long as they can milk it. Fighting Isreal gives them power, beating
Isreal will take away their power. The rhetoric they use to stir up the
crowds is just a convenient tool to manipulate the situation.

By now, the leaders of Isreal must realize that this is the true
situation. Their population is being used as bomber fodder for the
internal power struggle between Hamas and the other factions in the
occupied areas. This strugle also keeps much of the rest of the middle
east concentrating on places other than their own countries. The
"Opression" of the Palestinians by the Isrealies distracts them from
their own bananna republic existance.

Knowing that Hamas, or its replacement must keep fighting to maintain
their own internal roles, Isreal can use the continued fighting as an
excuse to continually expel more Palestinians from the west bank and
Gaza until isreal expels them all and settles all the disputed areas
with Isrealies. Hamas' fighting only helps to speed the process.

I wonder if the rest of the Palestinians will ever figure this out?

--
Dana Miller