Gazans prefer Israelis

I watched with some interest, after reading Little Green Footballs (here and here) this weekend how long it would take for the media to decide it was alright to tell us that Palestinians in Gaza would prefer to be in Israel than under Hamas. Well it finally happened this morning, not in any of the major news outlets, but from the AP;

Fearing death or persecution, Gazans began flocking to the Erez passage after Hamas militants wrested control of the coastal strip from Fatah security forces late last week. Israel, which has no interest in letting masses of Gazans pass through its territory and possibly destabilize the quieter West Bank, has refused to let most of them in, saying their lives were not in danger.

By Tuesday, about 600 people were holed up in the long, concrete tunnel that leads to the Israeli side of the crossing. Around 100 people belonged to Fatah security forces, but the rest were civilians, seeking a better life in the West Bank.

And of course, the civilized Hamas fellows were more than happy to make their stay in the concrete tunnel as memorable as possible;

On Monday, gunmen allied with Hamas disguised themselves as fleeing civilians and hurled hand grenades at Israeli soldiers and Palestinians at Erez, killing a relative of a slain Fatah warlord, and injuring 15 other Palestinians.

In a move to maintain order, Israeli tanks and armored vehicles rolled up to the Palestinian side of Erez on Tuesday, chasing away cars parked next to the tunnel, including vehicles belonging to journalists.

Wait. Do you mean that AP is going to admit that the Israelis actually decided to protect Palestinians? Well, not completely;

“There is a clear conflict between security needs and humanitarian considerations,” Peres said. “It’s clear that we don’t want to see in the West Bank (Fatah-allied) Al Aqsa militants who carried out attacks in the past.”

Israel allowed about 50 senior Fatah officials and their families to cross into the West Bank from Gaza over the weekend, citing threats to their safety. Some 200 other Fatah officials are in Egypt, trying to travel to the West Bank via Jordan, Fatah officials said.

And this from a MidEast News article from last week;

“I’m afraid to say this out loud, they may execute me for it, but there are a lot of people, including myself, who think it would be better if Israel came back here. Things would be much better than they are now,” said Samara (alias), a graduate of the Islamic University living in the Gaza Strip.

[…]

“The children are afraid all the time,” Samara says. “My nephews ask, ‘Why are the Israelis shooting at us?’, and we tell them it’s Palestinians. Then they ask, ‘Why are Palestinians shooting at us?’, and I have no answer for them.  

Well, if I believed in kharma…. 

Meanwhile Carl in Jerusalem at Israel Matzav reports that the Lebanese Army claims to have interferred with a Katyusha rocket attack on Israel. This after a 4-rocket attack on Sunday. Think there could be a link between last week’s Hamas action in Gaza and Hezbollah’s in Lebanon? Nah, Hezbollah says they’ve had nothing to do with the rocket attacks – we know we can trust them at their word, huh?

Lady Vorzheva, the Spanish Pundit, writes and researches long and hard on the events in Gaza with constant updates. Especially interesting is the article she links to in Catholic World News which reports;

On June 14, a school administered by the Sisters of the Holy Rosary was demolished in the Gaza Strip. In the chapel adjoining the sisters’ convent, the crucifix and a statue of Christ were broken and prayer books burned.

Well, at least they didn’t draw unflattering cartoons of Jesus on the walls – that might have gotten those Catholics hopping mad and driven them to burning cars and buses in Europe.

Category: Foreign Policy, Terror War