Nothing is shocking anymore

The unprecedented "exchange" taking place between Hamas and Fatah should not come as a shock to observers. From its inception in Palestinian politics, Hamas has been the un-welcomed guest.

Its victory in last year's parliamentary elections ended four decades of Fatah political domination, even though the group still maintains control of the powerful Palestinian presidency.

This along with American and Israeli detestation of the Islamist organisation and therefore stern support for Fatah, has pulled the Palestinian population deeper into disorder and pushed them further from statehood.

Since the beginning of 2006, Palestinian politics has been polarised and has extended beyond political rivalries and into this recent trend of head-on confrontation.

There is now a pattern of armed clashes that has proven deadly in many cases; a phenomenon that is certainly threatening the fabric of Palestinianhood.

It used to be a stretch to say that a civil war in the occupied territories is a strong possibility because of the fragmentation between the two leading political parties but today, we see it as an imminent danger and maybe even a close reality.

Who would have thought that Palestinians would fall into the trap of internal strife (i.e. distraction) that would prevent them from dealing with the grave problems they face in Israeli occupation and injustice?

Indeed, it's mind-boggling to see a nation under military occupation turn against itself but the fact remains that external forces have had a great say in steering the domestic politics of Palestine.

Earlier this week, to mark the 42nd anniversary of the once-dominant Fatah movement, tens of thousands of supporters of the Palestinian president's Fatah movement rallied at a stadium in Gaza in a show of force to the governing Hamas members.

It was at this rally that Fatah's senior member and former security chief Mohammad Dahlan set the tone for future policies.

Dahlan, a darling of the US administration, taunted Hamas in his speech, even saying: "… let Hamas shoot me", inciting and perhaps inspiring future action.

He chanted "death for the killers", adding, "If a Fatah man is attacked, we will respond. Their leaders will be wrong to think they are far from the reach of our hands."

This kind of talk once referred to Israeli occupiers but today, we witness a provocative and highly dangerous Fatah attitude towards Hamas members causing the intensification of the infighting.

Dahlan's petty rhetoric sounds more like a call for internal hostility and shows no signs of desire for unity or fear of loss for Palestinian life.

Even if Hamas takes the high road and decides to overlook this kind of talk, other "members of society" could respond to this spelled-out challenge.

Executive forces

Fatah aims to aggravate its conflict with Hamas through its attack on Hamas's executive forces. After initially agreeing to integrate the Hamas unit into existing security forces, President Mahmoud Abbas decided to "reshuffle the security forces and its leadership and to consider the executive force, officers and members, illegal and outside the law".

It is unclear whether he ever seriously considered granting the executive forces a legal status. Hamas's response? To double the strength of its "executive forces" to 12,000 especially given the recent reports of American involvement in the shipping of guns to the Fatah-controlled security forces.

America is by no means a bystander in this. The US administration had planned to provide security forces loyal to Abbas with $86.4 million (Dh317 million) in order to assist the Palestinian National Authority presidency in "fulfilling its … commitments". The US is playing a dangerous game at the expense of an already starved people.

What is more, there is an attempt to include the Palestinian people in this war of politics between Fatah and Hamas instead of trying to resolve it at the political level.

What we are seeing on the Palestinian political stage (whoever the perpetrators are) is a desire to wipe off resistance from the scene by distracting a people even if it means losing Palestinian blood.

The fact remains that Hamas has not been given a fair chance to govern since last January simply because of Western reaction and backing of Fatah.

They [the West] imposed an economic embargo on Palestine which has crippled the economy and plunged the occupied territories into greater poverty. So essentially, what was hailed as an almost unprecedented democratic election has now been looked upon as a source of all problems.

The West led by the US and blessed by Israel made the decision to punish the Palestinian people for choosing Hamas over Fatah and while doing so, provided opportunities for the latter to claw its way back into power (through funding and even simple recognition) which has ultimately sparked the current conflict.