Sunday October 22, 2006

I've Been Thinking:

There was an attempt made to assassinate Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

Instead of making headlines, it was hardly a story. And when it was mentioned, it was buried deep or tacked on as an addendum to another story.
This was not a subtle, secret attack better left unknown. It was a shootout while the prime minister rode in his motorcade and exploded the rear vehicle which was engulfed in flames and left to burn on the street.

Why was the incident hardly covered?
Because tensions are so high and murders and kidnappings are so common between Hamas and Fatah that editors saw this story as commonplace.

Why should it have been covered?
Because the Palestinian Authority is on the verge of a civil war.
Because this attempted assassination happened 20 minutes after a joint Hamas Fatah announcement went out claiming that things were going to calm down. Because a Hamas security leader was assassinated the day before at point blank range by someone he knew very well.

This is not the fault of Israel or the CIA.
Palestinians have embraced inner conflict as a way to solve their problems.
Palestinians now kill one another with as much ease as they murder Israelis. That is really scary.