Dahlan: Hamas responsible for wedding blast

Cobtributed by unadulteratedtruth

unadulteratedtruth said...
I've written a piece about the bomb attack on my blog: http://unadulteratedtruth.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/dahlan-hamas-responsible-for-wedding-blast/


12:57 PM, July 24, 2009

Link

Ma’an News Agency reported on Wednesday that Muhammed Dahlan believes that Hamas was responsible for a bomb blast at his nephew’s wedding in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday evening.

Witnesses at the event said an explosion occurred under a stage in a street in the city, injuring the groom and many others, many seriously. The blast is understood to have injured 61 in total.

Dahlan has leveled direct accusations at his long-standing bitter rival Hamas

In an exclusive interview with Gaza “strongman” Dahlan, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported Dahlan as claiming that, “Hamas was behind Wednesday’s blast in Khan Younis and Farouq Qaddoumi’s claims of assassination plots against Yasser Arafat are baseless.”

Dahlan was allegedly explicit in his claims that Hamas masterminded the attack, claiming it was yet another attempt to undermine the upcoming Fatah Congress in Bethlehem next month, the first in over twenty years. Dahlan is said to have claimed that after the initial explosion Hamas members threw further explosives into the crowd before firing shots.

Moreover, a Fatah-affiliated website has reported that Hamas operatives contacted the groom’s house shortly before the wedding and demanded it be canceled, before showing up and confiscating cameras. Hamas, however, denied any involvement in the attacks. Spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein said Gaza security forces arrested three suspects. It is believed that they are members of the salafist, al-Qaeda-linked Jundallah (Jund Ansar Allah/Jaljalat).

A map showing the location of Khan Younis towards the south-west of the Gaza Strip

Rather than blaming al-Qaeda operatives and noting that the movement is a “rising force” in the Gaza Strip, the presently Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority decided to blame its bitter rival Hamas.

This picture shows the Fatah party logo

Dahlan and his Fatah party are derided by al-Qaeda for their collaboration in the American-backed Israeli occupation. According to Dahlan, the Congress, “will rebuild Fatah and put an end to the whole trauma.” The “trauma” presumably refers to Fatah’s internecine feuds, which many believe allowed Hamas to take the 2006 PLC election. Regarding the Congress, Dahlan claimed, “Fatah will change for the better. If we were going to stay the same do you think Hamas would be putting obstacles in its way?”

Many PLO and Fatah officials have criticized Abbas’ decision to hold the Congress in Bethlehem under Israeli occupation, rather than in an Arab state, such as Jordan or Syria.

Abbas has been criticized from within his own faction for planning to hold the Fatah Congress in Bethlehem next month

Dahlan also noted that the 2007 coup in Gaza by Hamas would be on the agenda at the Congress, sending out a warning to those who collaborated with Hamas in taking a passive stance. However, no mention of Dahlan’s alleged role in instigating the coup was reported.

Dahlan’s response to the attacks represents another step in the escalating war of words between Fatah and Hamas in the lead up to Fatah’s sixth Congress. Fatah members are becoming increasingly prepared to use Hamas as a scapegoat for every ill in the Gaza Strip, often without evidence to back up their claims.

Some observers have even gone as far, and most-likely too far, to suggest that Dahlan orchestrated the attack on his nephew’s wedding himself in order to delegitimize Hamas yet further. Dahlan may be a duplicitous character, but not to that extreme, surely.

If, as Dahlan hypocritically claims, Kaddoumi can be prosecuted for his claims against Abbas and others relating to Arafat’s “assassination,” then ought not Dahlan be subject to charges of slander against Hamas in this instance where he seemingly lacks any evidence?

Filed under Dahlan, Fatah, Gaza, Hamas, PLO, Palestine

Tags: Abbas, al-Qaeda, Attack, Bethlehem, Bomb, Dahlan, Explosion, Fatah, Fatah Congress, Gaza, Hamas, Jundallah, Kaddoumi, Khan Younis, Palestinian Authority