ANALYSIS: A shaky unity among the ranks

[Behind the Aegis]

On Friday, nearly two weeks after the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit, a watershed was marked on the Palestinian side: For the first time, an article criticizing the Palestinian Authority's handling of the crisis appeared in the Palestinian press.

In an article entitled "Who will save the people from the curse of Gilad?", Nasser al-Lahem, editor-in-chief of the independent Palestinian news agency, Maan, lists the damage since the abduction - nearly 60 fatalities, including those killed in incidents with the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank, the complete siege of the Gaza Strip, and the detention of Hamas' political leadership in the West Bank.

This sort of criticism, at the zenith of the fighting, is an unusual phenomenon in the territories. The position expressed by Al-Lahem, a resident of the Dehaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem, appears to reflect the opinion of many Palestinians. The very high number of casualties (most of them armed) and the suffering of the population in the northern Gaza Strip are cause for questions regarding the wisdom behind the latest adventure into which Hamas has led the PA.

Nonetheless, the anger of the residents of the Gaza Strip is not about the abduction, which is still viewed as an opportunity for securing the release of prisoners - an issue that unifies Palestinian public opinion. The Palestinians are pointing fingers at the Qassam rocket crews, blaming them for prompting the temporary invasion of the northern Gaza Strip and causing massive losses to the Palestinian militants.


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