Friday, July 06, 2007

Alan Johnston's release

The release of the BBC's correspondent Alan Johnston from captivity in Gaza after 114 days is a great relief. It has certain implications, notably because Hamas was responsible for his release.
Johnston was kidnapped by the Darmush clan, but was not held for any specific ransom. There have been around 30 such kidnappings of foreigners and journalists in Gaza in the past few years as it descended into chaos, and all of them were eventually released, but Johnston was the only correspondent in Gaza for the past 3 years. This raises the question as to why the BBC would risk his life there, and the answer, pure and simple, was that he was the mouthpiece of the Palestinian movement, both Fatah and Hamas. He was useful to them and therefore his situation looked safe.
The people who kidnapped him have called themselves the "Army of Islam," but this is a front for the Darmush clan or gang. They have been operating autonomously, just as other gangs have, within Gaza, since Pres. Abbas became head of Fatah, and PA Govt. control in Gaza became a fiction. Abbas was so weak in his role as Palestinian leader, that it let Hamas and other gangs of terrorists take over. So corrupt was the Fatah leadership that when Hamas decided to run for office, they received a strong endorsement from the population of Gaza. Being in the Govt. forced Hamas to clean up their act to some extent. Even though Fatah and Hamas supposedly joined together in the so-called Unity Govt., this was another fiction, and then Hamas took over Gaza by force.
It was not good for them that Johnston was held captive, since it showed that they could not control the Strip, and that forces were active beyond their control. This only confirmed the international community in their belief that Hamas is a terrorist organization and could not be trusted, and should not be funded. Therefore the pressure has been on Hamas to prove that they are both responsible and moderate. How better to do that than release Johnston and gain points with the UK and others. Seeing Johnston having breakfast with former PM Ismail Haniyeh, is worth many PR points for them.
So there were three aims of Hamas in releasing Johnston, first to show that they control "their turf ", second that they are trustworthy and can be dealt with by Western Govts, and third they can get good PR in the West for their responsible actions. No matter that they are merely a larger and stronger Islamist gang than the Darmush/Army of Islam.
Now that they have engineered the release of Johnston by applying miltiary force to the Darmush, by killing three of them and arresting ten more, the pressure should be on them to do the same for Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, who has been held in captivity for over a year! However, for that they will almost certainly want a reciprocal response from Israel, probably the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
In the internecine struggle between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas have scored valuable points. But, Pres. Abbas has obtained the release of 250 prisoners by agreement with PM Olmert. However, the Fatah leadership are at pains to point out that they had no choice over who was released and that they gave noone or nothing in return. This was a unilateral Israeli gesture to them. Now it will be up to Hamas to try to up the ante and obtain more Palestinain prisoners, in exchange for the release of Shalit.
Meanwhile Johnston escaped from Gaza by way of Israel. Once in Israel he was truly free, and he could relax and catch a flight to London, where Islamist terrorists are also active.

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