In a January 15 story, The New York Times got misty-eyed over one outcome of the fighting in Gaza — the further decline of its favorite Palestinian terrorists — the Fatah party, which nominally controls the Palestinian Authority.
The story notes, “But with each day, the [Palestinian] authority, its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and its leading party, Fatah, seem increasingly beleaguered and marginalized, even in the Palestinian cities of the West Bank, which they control. Protesters accuse Mr. Abbas of not doing enough to stop the carnage in Gaza.”
The Times goes on to tell us that many Palestinians view Abbas and Fatah as Zionist stooges. It wants us to believe that Fatah is a rational alternative to Hamas.
In reality, Fatah is Hamas-lite. Like Hamas, it refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist — anywhere. Like Hamas, anti-Semitism is its leitmotif. In schools, mosques and media controlled by Fatah, there’s a steady stream of Jew-hatred.
Fatah was in the terrorism business decades before Hamas. It was founded by the late Yasser Arafat, the terrorist prototype. Since 1993, Fatah has killed more Israelis than Hamas.
Hamas and Fatah are rival gangs — like the Corleones and Tattaglias. (In the brief civil war in Gaza, Hamas fighters whacked more than 70 members of the Abbas family.)
But the differences are stylistic more than substantive. Hamas is more fanatically Islamic. But Fatah also uses Islam to inculcate nationalism and anti-Semitism. Abbas favors three-piece suits over Kalashnikovs, and often tailors his message to Western audiences. Hamas spurns such deception.
But both are committed to the destruction of the Jewish state, and willing to use any means to achieve that end.
The Times covered up Stalin’s purges in the 1930s and did PR for Fidel Castro in the late 1950s. Now it’s promoting Abbas and Fatah as peace partners for Israel. Israel beware.
@nytimes.com
