The internal tension between Hamas and Fatah is growing and it seems to be taking a serious turn for the worse. Fatah has created a 2,000 man militia in the West Bank in what looks like a response to the 3,000 man militia Hamas created in Gaza. In the past I have totally avoided talking about this issue, primarily because it pains me to see this happening. It is disheartening to see the Palestinians turning on each other at such a critical time.

So why am I talking about his now? It’s because I’m worried. I’m worried that my despite my daily mantra of “A Palestinian civil war is impossible”, that it might get that bad. And even if it doesn’t get to the point of a civil war, it might still be a drawn out and damaging struggle for power. Besides my obvious concern for all the Palestinians people and what something like this will do their already miserable lives, I am also concerned about more difficult questions to answer. What are the reprecrussions of what is happening today in terms of the Palestinian struggle for justice? How do we in on the outside contribute positively as we look into a pollitical and social landscape griped by chaos?

I’ve yet to find an real analysis of what the impact of the current problems will be. I’m looking for discussions of ‘what if’ scenarios. What ff the hostilities between Palestinian factions continue, get worse, or turn into a full fledged civil war, what will that mean? What are we to do? Do we need to redirect our activism in anyway? I’m going to be hunting for some answers. My mind is already crippled by these questions, so I’m going to have to sit down and talk to some people with more brain capacity that mine. What do you guys think? Do you have any opinions to share on this topic? Drop me a comment.