Israel Matzav

Hamas' 'poor performance'

Yesterday, they celebrated Hamas' 'birthday' in the Gaza Strip. It was, we are told, a 'poor performance':

Fatah representatives claimed that the Hamas rally was a "failure" because of the "small" number of participants.

"This is Hamas's poorest performance since 1997," said Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazzal. "Hamas threatened to cut off the salary [of] and beat any activist who does not bring his family members to the rally. Despite that, they were unable to fill the square, and there were many empty chairs."

And what exactly was Hamas' 'poorest performance'?

Tens of thousands of Palestinians participated in a main rally organized by Hamas in the center of Gaza City in what was seen as one of the movement's biggest shows of force.

Shouting, "We won't recognize Israel," the Hamas supporters burned Israeli flags and chanted slogans against the US.

The rally was held in the same square where thousands of Fatah supporters attended a memorial for Yasser Arafat last month. Hamas officials estimated that nearly 250,000 Palestinians participated in the rally as opposed to less than 50,000 who showed up for the Arafat event.

Sounds really poor, doesn't it?

In the meantime, the 'quartet' and the media and the Israeli government continue to try to convince us that the average 'Palestinian' supports the 'moderate' Fatah terrorist group, as if they are any better. In fact, the world is lining up to give Fatah $5.6 billion in Paris this week without even asking where the previous $5.6 billion plus went:

"I think that all signs coming from here and there tell us that we will get full support," Samir Abdullah told The Associated Press ahead of Monday's conference. He predicted generous pledges from Arab states.

The British and German governments have already announced a combined $780 million in aid for the Palestinian economy over the next three years. Other pledges have been flowing in for days from around the world, though the French conference hosts are not announcing the sums before Monday.

Representatives of 90 countries and international organizations are coming to the conference. Donors are expected to be generous amid a new U.S.-led push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of next year. Talks last month in Annapolis, Maryland, renewed the peace effort after seven years of diplomatic deadlock and bloodshed.

Sounds like the Yizkor appeal in your synagogue, doesn't it? ("Mr. and Mrs. Cohen $25. Mr and Mrs. Levy $25. Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs in memory of her sister Shprintze $50....")

For those of you in the US, Israel Radio reported this morning that the American government is giving $500 million of your tax dollars. That would put the 'Palestinians' pretty high up on the list of recipients of US foreign aid.

Officially, Hamas isn't going to be getting any of that money, but given Fatah's past proclivities to support Hamas and stories about how terrible life is in Gaza like this and this, how many of you really believe Hamas won't get anything? Yesterday's 'poor performance' will likely turn into a lot of cash for Hamas....

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:56 PM