The Fatah Conference is over. United in its hatred of Israel and divided over any other subject, the result was a sham. Instead of talking about peace, more obstacles were placed in the way of progress.

In the immediate fall out, it is the average Palestinian who will suffer from this display of disunity.

With a great deal of irony, about the only togetherness took place when most delegates resigned quickly after the ballot results were announced. Former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper:-

The forgery in Iran’s recent presidential election was nothing compared to what happened in Fatah……There were behind-the-scenes arrangements that removed some names and added others to the winning list.

It will be interesting to see how President Obama handles President Abbas, who clearly does not possess the flowing confidence of his own party, Fatah; a party which has again reiterated the option of armed struggle against Israel.

Fatah’s stronghold is in the West Bank, having been evicted by Hamas from Gaza. Yet this former Egyptian territory raises its own human rights issues.

Last weekend, Hamas took out and slaughtered a rival political group, linked with Al-Qaida. Highly respected commentator, Tom Gross, reports that:

Hamas forces also stormed a mosque in Rafah on the Egyptian border, where about 100 members of Jund Ansar Allah, or “The Soldiers of the Companions of God,” were holed up. At least 150 Palestinians were injured.

Hamas, which regularly cons Western human rights groups into believing it doesn’t have any money, used a considerable array of weapons, including rocket propelled grenades, to attack the mosque. …

According to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, an Egyptian child was hit by a stray bullet fired during the exchange, and ten artillery shells also landed on the southern side of the Gaza-Egypt border, ….

This news is of considerable political significance because it shows that Hamas is determined to maintain absolute control over Gaza and allow no dissent whatever (thereby reducing the prospects of reconciliation with Fatah and the possibility that the Palestinians might be unified enough to form an independent state).

That Hamas has little respect for common law is no surprise. Two weeks ago, it commandeered 3 new ambulances, just as they were being delivered to UNRWA. That is several tens of thousands of international tax payers money, donated on behalf of Palestinians, which has been swallowed up into the heart of the Hamas organization.

As I end this piece, I have just recalled that back in April, Israel’s entry for the European Song Contest was entitled “There has to be another way”.

Oh, how the Palestinians deserve so much better