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In this mailing:
by Khaled Abu Toameh
• June 16, 2016 at 5:00 am
- Hostility towards
the Palestinian Authority (PA) seems to have reached unprecedented
heights among refugee camp residents.
- A chat with young
Palestinians in any refugee camp in the West Bank will reveal a driving
sense of betrayal. In these camps, the PA seems as much the enemy as
Israel. They speak of the PA as a corrupt and incompetent body that is
managed by "mafia leaders." Many camp activists believe it is
only a matter of time before Palestinians launch an intifada against the
PA.
- Nablus, the largest
city in the West Bank, is surrounded by a number of refugee camps that
are effectively controlled by dozens of Fatah gangs that have long been
terrorizing the city's wealthy clans and leading figures.
- Hamas, of course,
is cheering on the sidelines as it watches the PA-controlled territories
going to hell.
In April of this year, a fierce gun battle erupted between
Palestinian Authority security officers and members of the Jaradat clan in
the refugee camp of Jenin. The clash started during an attempt to arrest a
clan member. (Image source: Palestinian Press Agency)
Palestinians fear that their communities may be facing a return to
anarchy and falatan amni, or "security chaos."
Recent incidents are yet another sign of the Palestinian Authority's
failure to enforce law and order, especially in refugee camps such as Balata
(near Nablus) Qalandya (near Ramallah) and the Jenin refugee camp.
Moreover, these incidents are an indication of mounting tensions among
rival camps inside Fatah and between the refugees and the Palestinians living
in the big cities surrounding the camps.
by Burak Bekdil
• June 16, 2016 at 4:00 am
- Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his fellow Islamists are keen admirers of the
idea that Muslim Turks capture lands belonging to other civilizations
because, in this mindset, "conquest" means the spread of
Islam.
- "Look, now
there is the Islamophobia malady in the West ... [Its] aim is to stop
[the further spread of Islam]. But they will not be able to
succeed." — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, June 4, 2016.
- In Erdogan's
narrative, Muslim Turks have never invaded foreign lands by the force of
the sword. What they did was just conquering hearts. This is not even
funny.
On June 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
addressed university students, saying, "Just like our [Turkish] arrival
into Anatolia, just like the conquest of Istanbul ... I know you will be
behaving with the same consciousness ... A 'New Turkey' will rise on your
shoulders ... You must reproduce. God [commands] you to have at least three
children."
1071 is a very special year for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
-- and his Islamist ideologues. Erdogan often speaks about his "2071
targets," a reference to his vision of "Great Turkey," on the
1000th anniversary of a battle that paved the Turks' way into
where they still live.
In 1071, the Seljuk Turks did not arrive in Anatolia from their native
Central Asian steppes with flowers in their hands. Instead they were in full
combat gear, fighting a series of wars against the Christian Byzantine
[Eastern Roman] Empire and featuring a newfound Islamic zeal. The Battle of
Manzikert in 1071 is widely seen as the moment when the Byzantines lost the
war against the Turks: before the end of the century, the Turks were in
control of the entire Anatolian peninsula.
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