Since the end of CAST LEAD, HAMAS has been really really busy, purging the Gaza of any supposed "collaborators"; turning schools and suchlike into makeshift interrogation centers; they've been quite busy kneecapping and killing Fatah members for "collaborating with Israel" etc.
Now they've moved on to people who work with Aid agencies...
A Palestinian human rights activist and journalist who used to work for the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem has been executed by Hamas on charges of "collaboration" with Israel, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip said over the weekend.
They identified the man as Haidar Ghanem, 46, of Rafah.
They pointed out that Ghanem, who was a field researcher for B'Tselem, had been sentenced to death by a Palestinian Authority court in 2002 after being found guilty of passing on information to Israel that later resulted in the elimination of Fatah gunmen.
Ghanem, according to the Palestinians, was among dozens of suspected "collaborators" who were executed by Hamas during Operation Cast Lead.
Fatah officials in Ramallah claimed that many of the alleged collaborators were in fact Fatah members who had been rounded up by Hamas militiamen during the war. They said that Ghanem was executed on January 7 in Rafah.
Although he was sentenced to death by firing squad seven years ago, former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and his successor, Mahmoud Abbas, refrained from carrying out the sentence because of pressure from human rights groups and journalists.
The PA state security court had sentenced Ghanem, a father of two, after holding only two brief sessions. He was convicted of helping Israel kill four Fatah activists in Rafah.
Ghanem pleaded guilty to collaborating, but denied responsibility for the killings. He told the court that he did not know that Israel would use the information to kill the activists.
Prosecutor Wael Zakut told the court Ghanem was recruited as an informer in 1996. He said he had been asked to monitor the movements of Fatah members Jamal Abdel Razek, Awni Dahir, Sami Abu Laban, and Nael Liddawi.
The prosecutor claimed the IDF killed them 15 minutes after Ghanem tipped off the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) about the location of their car. An undercover IDF unit intercepted the car, killing all four, he added.
The court was told by PA security officers that the accused had opened a press office in Rafah that was supplying the Shin Bet with information about Fatah activists. Ghanem was paid a monthly sum for his "press services."
The officers claimed that Ghanem had supplied Israel with reports on the movements of PA security personnel and names of Palestinians involved in terror attacks. Among other things, Ghanem prepared reports on the general mood in the Gaza Strip, the status of the PA, and details on the salaries of its employees.
The officer told the court that Ghanem's Shin Bet handlers had given him permission to work as a field researcher with B'Tselem to facilitate his mission and provide a cover for his espionage activities.
Ghanem told the court that he had confessed of his own free will because he had hoped to work as a double agent. He admitted that he had served as an informer, but said he did not watch the movements of the Fatah fugitives with the purpose of killing them.
Title and location references fixed ~Edi
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
I am not a HAMAS fan, but if someone admits to having passed information to the Israelis that led directly to the Israelis killing HAMAS (or other Palestinian) operatives it doesn't seem the least bit surprising that HAMAS would kill him for having done so. I mean, really, what reasonable expectation could someone have that Israeli forces would use that information for purposes *other* than killing or capturing the people involved?
I miss where it says he worked with aid agencies; B'Tselem is not an aid agency but a human rights organization.
I find myself endlessly fascinated by your career - Stark, in a fit of Nerd-Validation, November 3, 2011
Kanastrous wrote:I am not a HAMAS fan, but if someone admits to having passed information to the Israelis that led directly to the Israelis killing HAMAS (or other Palestinian) operatives it doesn't seem the least bit surprising that HAMAS would kill him for having done so.
The "fun" thing is, HAMAS is doing it to just about everyone:
Relatives of Abed al-Gharabli, a former Fatah security officer who spent 12 years in an Israeli prison, said he was kidnapped by a group of Hamas militiamen who shot him in both legs after severely torturing him.
Ziad Abu Hayeh, a Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade commander, is reported to have been blinded after being abducted from his home in Khan Yunis by Hamas gunmen.
I recall an event during the war; where immediately after a strike on a HAMAS leader's house; the "Security services" grabbed some random guy or two off the street near the house and executed them right away as "collaborators" for "spying" on the leaders and passing info on. Trying to find information on that one...
I miss where it says he worked with aid agencies; B'Tselem is not an aid agency but a human rights organization.
My bad.
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
Why is it so goddamned hard to get little assholes like you to admit it when you fuck up? Is it pride? What gives you the right to have any pride?
–Darth Wong to vivftp
GOP message? Why don't they just come out of the closet: FASCISTS R' US –Patrick Degan
The GOP has a problem with anyone coming out of the closet. –18-till-I-die
I wonder how may Palestinians Hamas will torture and/or murder over the next few weeks? Somehow I doubt that the American media will keep us up to date on that bit of information, in contrast to the daily body count they gave when Israel was in there fighting Hamas.
The only people who were safe were the legion; after one of their AT-ATs got painted dayglo pink with scarlet go faster stripes, they identified the perpetrators and exacted revenge. - Eleventh Century Remnant
Count Chocula wrote:I wonder how may Palestinians Hamas will torture and/or murder over the next few weeks? Somehow I doubt that the American media will keep us up to date on that bit of information, in contrast to the daily body count they gave when Israel was in there fighting Hamas.
What with 1200 dead and thousands more injured? A quarter of them children. With allegations of war crimes. Link , Link and Link
I doubt they will match up.
As for purges, they were quite common amongst most of these types of groups. The IRA, Loyalists, etc. had special units for this.
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi
"Problem is, while the Germans have had many mea culpas and quite painfully dealt with their history, the South is still hellbent on painting themselves as the real victims. It gives them a special place in the history of assholes" - Covenant
"Over three million died fighting for the emperor, but when the war was over he pretended it was not his responsibility. What kind of man does that?'' - Saburo Sakai
^ Not my (tongue in cheek) question. To clarify: will we see AP, Reuters or CNN photos of Palestinian civilians mutilated or murdered by Hamas?
As far as "match up'" I think the context is a little different. If you wish, and this is probably a poor analogy but one that comes easily to mind, view the Israelis as Stormtroopers shooting their way through Belgium and Hamas as the SS shooting their way through selected German citizens.
The only people who were safe were the legion; after one of their AT-ATs got painted dayglo pink with scarlet go faster stripes, they identified the perpetrators and exacted revenge. - Eleventh Century Remnant
Thanks for the article. I have to think Israel was hoping to beat up on Hamas enough to get Fatah back in Gaza. I don't think that was their main goal, but it factored in. So of course Fatah would want to collaborate with the IDF because the IDF has tanks, APCs and an air force. But it looks like that plan might have backfired. Either way, I doubt Fatah will be able to oust Hamas through town hall debates. Israel still gets the advantage of rattling the sabers for the election and getting the whole mess cooled down before Obama got into office. I'm sure he was relieved he didn't walk into another Palestine/Israel crisis.
