PFLP/Hamas squabble; Hamas paranoia increases

Terror groups tried to put together a show of unity against Israel, but Hamas had another agenda. From Ma'an:

The armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine was "disappointed" by Hamas fighters' show of support for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood during a military march in Gaza, it said Friday.

The DFLP fighters, the National Resistance Brigades, said signs waved by Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades fighters did not reflect the DFLP's position.

The military march of Palestinian factions in the northern Gaza Strip was intended to respond to Israel's occupation and the ongoing threats against the enclave, the National Resistance Brigades said in a statement.

The march was not intended to express interference in Egypt's internal affairs, the group added.

The National Resistance Brigades said it would remain committed to a policy of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of any Arab country. There is a Palestinian consensus on that policy, and the DFLP will adhere to that consensus, the statement said.

The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, withdrew from the march because Hamas fighters raised signs in support of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"In a meeting between all the military wings of all resistance movements in the Gaza Strip, it was agreed to organize a march, and hold a press conference for all Palestinian military wings that aimed to highlight the unity of resistance against the occupation," the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said in a statement.

PFLP fighters were "surprised" that Hamas fighters raised signs to support the Muslim Brotherhood, the PFLP brigades said, adding that the act did not benefit national unity.

Here is video of the rally. The terror groups look to be anything but disciplined.



Hamas members towards the end holding up four fingers are referring to Egypt's attack on a Muslim Brotherhood rally.

Meanwhile, I am seeing lots of videos of Egyptians on TV hurling insults at Hamas. The organization has really reached its lowest point since it started.

Hamas is turning even more paranoid. From the Al Qassam Brigades website:

Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza said that it discovered a plot against the Strip that targets political figures and aims to stir up unrest, and confirmed arresting some elements involved in the plot.

The spokesman for the ministry Islam Shahwan said on Friday during a press conference held in Gaza “we have recently spotted suspicious movements of some individuals planning to shake the stability on the home front,”

"As they were put under surveillance and then held by the security services, they turned out to have collaborated with Israel’s Mossad," he confirmed.

He said that those elements were interrogated and they made serious confessions about the plot that aims to create chaos is Gaza, and added that the confessions revealed that the parties involved in the plot include Israeli intelligence services, and Intelligence Service and Preventive Security Service of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, along with other Arab Intelligence Services.

Yes, Arab countries, the PLO and Israel are all secretly colluding to take down Hamas!

Arab woman forced to withdraw from Israeli feminist party because of threats

YNet Hebrew reports that an Arab woman was forced to withdraw her candidacy in a new pan-Israeli women's political party because of threats.

The party, Ometz Lev (Courage,) was founded by Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Naomi Tsur and Councilwoman Edna Friedman to push for women's rights. They intended to include all sectors of Israeli feminist society in the party including Arab and Hareidi women.

When they registered and had to reveal the names of the candidates on their slate, the east Jerusalem Arab woman's name was included. And then the threats started.

"It started with telephone calls to my home," says the woman. "[The calls] warned me that running for election is to acknowledge the sovereignty of Israel over the east (part of the city) and it will end badly. "

Ultimately, she says, her family pressured her to remove her candidacy. "We need you alive," said her relatives, and she gave up the idea.

(Meanwhile, Ometz Lev - which is still searching for a proper Haredi candidate - had to allow men who are pro-feminist to join the party in order not to run foul of Israeli anti-discrimination laws!)

(h/t sshender)

Non-sequitur of the day: "Mideast turmoil pushes PLO/Israel peace process"

Reuters writes:

Turmoil in Syria and Egypt is nudging Israelis and Palestinians toward peace, a U.S. official said on Friday as Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Europe for talks about that conflict and a possible U.S. strike on Syrian targets.

A senior U.S. State Department official said Syria’s civil war, as well as upheaval in Egypt, whose army ousted Islamist Mohamed Mursi, its first freely elected president, gives Israelis and Palestinians an incentive to end their conflict.

“Both sides have made clear to us and to each other that they do not want the turmoil to engulf them and that therefore it motivates them to try to resolve their conflict to prevent that from happening,” the official told reporters with Kerry.

Right now, the PA security forces and the IDF manage to keep the Islamists at bay in the West Bank. If there would be a Palestinian Arab state, however, the IDF couldn't help any more and the chances for an Egyptian or Tunisian-style Islamist revolution would increase. Unlike in Egypt, there is little enthusiasm for the PA security forces' pre-emptive arrests of Islamists in most of the territories.

As I have noted, right now there is more stability in Israel and the territories than there has ever been since the first intifada. There is zero evidence that a "peace agreement" would continue that. The status quo is exactly what is keeping the turmoil out!

And, of course, there is that little sector called Gaza that shows what (democratically elected) Islamist-ruled Palestinian areas would look like.

Maybe this official is trying to spin the facts, or maybe Israeli and PLO officials are telling the Americans what they want to hear. But the statement as quoted is nonsensical.

Anyone worried about the PLO-controlled areas turning into Syria should be against "peace talks."