Personal Responsibility?? What's That?

As the un-civil war brews among the Palestinians, we take the opportunity to observe the Middle Eastern blame game. Hamas is warning that if they don't get what they want, well, they won't be able to control themselves. Let's break the situation down, piece by piece.

Six armed Palestinian groups affiliated with Hamas issued a statement Sunday evening threatening to respond with force to any attempt to dissolve the government's special security force.

Radical groups with their own armies is nothing unusual in the region (see Iraq and Lebanon, for example), commonly considered to be a "state within a state". It's something not at all compatible with democracy.

The six organizations, which include Hamas' armed wing, the Popular Resistance Committees, and groups that split from Fatah,...

Can anyone say "complete anarchy"?

...announced they will allow no one to attack the security force, saying that anyone who takes such action "will be held accountable for the consequences."

"We hold [Palestinian President] Abbas responsible for every drop of blood that will be shed by our kinsmen because of his decision..."

So Hamas' premeditated actions are not their fault. This typifies the complete absence of any notion of personal responsibility for one's own actions. It is a grave error that (although normal behavior for this region) is commonly accepted as legitimate by western governments. Example: the conventional wisdom that Islamic radicalization and terror is caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (like the Bali bombing of 2002 which targeted and killed mostly Australians and Indonesians who have nothing to do with Israel).

"We hold him [Abbas] personally responsible, along with the master of conspiracy and division, the godfather of the American plot, called Muhammad Dahlan," the groups wrote in the statement.

Everything is a conspiracy. Mohammed Dahlan is the security chief of Fatah (which opposes Hamas). Although Fatah is also a terrorist organization, sloganeering dictates that if someone is your opponent they must be in collusion with your hated enemy.

The statement continued, "We make it clear to our people that we will remain loyal to national unity and won't allow collaborators and traitors to drag us into civil war,..."

"National unity" = Hamas' opinions. "Collaborators and traitors" = anyone who disagrees with Hamas.

Seeing how Hamas calls Abbas "the president of the Oslo Authority" (reference to those who feel an obligation to the peace accords with Israel) and "anyone planning to harm Hamas' security force, in accord with the Israeli occupation" (meaning that disagreement with Hamas equals supporting the Zionists) it is natural that such a person is considered to be commiting sedition. Make sense? It gets much better as it continues:

"...even if we are forced occasionally,..."

Hence the ongoing killing and suffering they are causing.

"...and with much regret,..."

Heard of "crocodile tears"?

"...to strike the hubs of treason and conspiracy…"

So much for Palestinian "brotherhood".

Hamas, on the other hand, claimed that Abba' decision was aimed at fueling tensions in the Palestinian arena.

For Hamas, "Palestinian" = "Hamas". Too bad for Hamas that the polls show the country deeply divided.

Once again we see the ongoing "cycle of violins", where the sad strings play the tune of victimhood for everything done to them and everything they themselves do.

And what a sorry song it is.



UPDATE - Thank you Hamas for proving my point.