Arabeyes: How the Palestinians Defeated Themselves!

What is happening in Palestine? Why have the Palestinians turned against each other? What is fueling the conflict? Who is the victor and who is really being defeated? And what next?

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah sums up his feelings of disgust and attempts to answer these questions in the following post, which I am translating from Arabic:

أمر مخجل ما حدث ويحدث في الأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة. ليس أن يقتل الأخ أخاه فقط، بل أن يستعين بعض الفلسطينيين بأعدائهم للإنتصار (ولو بالظاهر) على أخوتهم – بمعنى أخر، الأنتصار على أنفسهم، مع أن هذا “الإنتصار” هو ليس اكثر من هزيمة للذات. ففي حين أن الطائرات والدبابات والصواريخ لم تهزمهم، هزمتهم ذاتهم العمياء المريضة وأخذتهم نشوة “الهزيمة” فتراهم يحتفلون بالنصر المؤزر المدعوم بدولارات ومساعدات الغرب “السخية” التي لا تظهر سوى في مصائب الشعوب. هذه الدولارات الغير مرئية حين تحتاجها الشعوب في نصرة الحق والعدالة.
What is happening in the Occupied Palestinian territories is a shame. Not that a brother is killing his own brother only but that some Palestinians are drawing support from their enemies to portray victory (if only outwardly) on their brothers. In other words, they are being victorious against themselves as this “victory” is in reality a self-defeat. At a time when airplanes, tanks and rockets did not defeat them, they have been defeated by their own blind sick selves. You see them now celebrating the defeat, under the illusion that it is a victory – a victory which is being supplemented by dollars and generous help from the West, which only comes to the surface during the catastrophes of people. These dollars are never seen when people need them to support justice and righteousness.
إنه لمن المخجل لدرجة أنني أكتب اليوم بالعربية لأني لن أستحمل شماتة العدو بنا لما آلت إليه أحوال الشعب الفلسطيني مع أني لا أشك أن الشماتة لن تأتي م�%

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