This Is Not a Civil War--It Is a Prison Riot--Samah Sabawi

Tweet Different take on the "civil war" in Gaza. Whole article at http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/06/this-is-not-civil-war-it-is-prison-riot.html and scroll down.

"The conflict started as a power struggle between Hamas and Fatah - with Fatah being under immense pressure from the United States and Israel to strip Hamas of its power. But Palestinians also know that now the fighting has gotten out of hand. Neither Hamas nor Fatah has much success maintaining any ceasefire as frustrated youths, born in the Gaza pressure-cooker with no future prospects and no hope in sight, takeover the streets. My cousin described it best: "This is not a civil war. It is a prison riot."

This "prison riot" was inevitable. After Hamas's victory in the Palestinian elections early last year,Israel and the international community starved and imprisoned the 1.4 million Palestinians living inside Gaza in hope that they would overthrow an increasingly helpless and besieged Hamas government. It was a cruel act that meant collectively punishing an occupied people by attaching strings to badly needed aid.

In the ensuing months, Palestinians found themselves in a unique situation. They were sealed off from the rest of the world, faced shortages of food, water and medicine, suffered high unemployment rates and lived in conditions not fit for animals. The only form of an income for many of Gaza's youths was to join one militia or another. The more powerless the government became, the more powerful the militias got. Those who did not join a militia had to be in the protection of one. Many in Gaza began to wonder why at a time when basic painkillers were not getting through the Israeli controlled borders, so many guns became available.

Found on WhatReallyHappened.com