Israel Matzav

Fatah's torture chambers - do they matter?

A lot of the blogsphere has been paying attention to a story in the German daily Der Spiegel about alleged Fatah torture chambers in Gaza which Hamas has taken over and is now opening to the public. Hamas alleges that the rooms were used to torture and murder its members. Charles at Little Green Footballs points out that the former owner of those torture chambers was 'moderate' 'Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen who is about to receive a financial windfall from the US and Israel. And yes, the existence of the torture chambers is yet another good reason why Abu Mazen doesn't deserve all that money.

But to be honest with you, I am having a hard time getting all worked up about the existence of torture chambers. First, there is no question in my mind that Hamas will behave the same way given the opportunity. In fact, the Der Spiegel article says that it is not clear whether the blood you see on the floor in the picture above is the blood of a Hamas victim murdered by Fatah or a Fatah victim murdered by Hamas. Given the freshness of the blood, the latter is more likely.

Second, if God forbid Israeli Jews were tortured and murdered in those same rooms (as well they may have been - there were several Israeli Jews who were kidnapped and dragged to the Gaza Strip over the years, including IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit who is still being held there), it is clear that both Hamas and Fatah would approve.

So why should I get all worked up over this? As Robert Spencer points out at Jihad Watch:

If both Hamas and Fatah start racing to expose the atrocities committed by the other, they may never stop. Both will have what Bob Hope, Don Rickles, and Milton Berle could only dream about: a virtually endless supply of new material.

Unfortunately, they are also likely to laugh about it all the way to the bank.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:49 AM