| No one rejoices at the news of the fratricide
between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza, no one except of course their common
enemy, Israel. Today we learn that Egypt has rushed from 500 to 1000 Fatah
elements through the Rafah crossing to shore up the battered Fatah militia.
As a response, Hamas forces stormed the much feared Fatah boss Abuw
Shabak's residence. The attack killed 4 of his bodyguards
. Elsewhere, Hamas attacked the presidential guards training center .
A big surprise caught the eyes of many
readers, when Al-Jazzerah net posted some pictures of `amiyd
(Colonel major) Abuw Shabak's residence which revealed
the sumptuous decadent style of his palace, surrounded by lush gardens.
The interior, adorned with opulent furniture and marble floor suitable
for a nouveau rich, is reminiscent of the Soprano Mafia boss.
While many Palestinians have their homes bulldozed by Israel and majority
of refugees are still housed in tents fighting the elements, Fatah officials
act and live the life of thugery like TV Anthony Soprano .
One wonders how a colonel-major's salary
can afford such luxury. However, what is happening in Gaza is a symptomatic
of a greater picture of the ongoing civil war in the Muslim world. This
war, which is already gripping countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Iraq, Algeria, Sudan, Palestine and Somalia, is also threatening Lebanon
and Turkey. Everywhere the strife is pitting the militant religious
elements of the society against its corrupted secular ones. This struggle
is fanned by constant US intervention on a massive scale to shore up the
hard-pressed "moderate regimes".
This situation is reminiscent of the major
role played by the United States in China during World War II when it emerged
as a major meddler in Chinese affairs.
Like the US intervention along with its
proxy Egypt in the present struggle between Hamas and Fatah, US intervention
in China led to a bitter struggle between the Nationalists and the Communists.
This struggle continued, openly or clandestinely, through the 14-year long
Japanese invasion (1931-1945), even though the two parties nominally formed
a united front to oppose the Japanese invaders in 1937, during the Sino-Japanese
(1937-1945) portion of World War II. By 1949, the Chinese civil war ended
with the total demise and discrediting of the nationalists who had espoused
western liberal philosophy
Likewise, in our part of the world, US
intervention is already discrediting the Western secular philosophy among
Arab and Muslim intellectuals. This is followed by the adoption of more
radical lines of thought. This in turn is planting the seeds for the irreconcilable
conflict between the secular and religious segments of the Islamic
world that will dominate our history for a long time.
Ishinan |
