Gaza gunmen fire on PA security compound, storm election HQ

[pelsar]

Palestinian gunmen from Palestinian Authority Chairman?Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah party stormed election offices and battled police in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in a flare-up of violence that could disrupt next month's parliamentary ballot.??The violence prompted the Central Elections Committee to ?close all its offices in the West Bank and Gaza.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/657361.html

_____________________________

perhaps democracy is not appropriate at this time for the palestenians?....societies like other groups have specific cultures and personalities...some succeed at certain things, others fail, some are better, faster, smarter and other arent. Maybe the palestenain society requires a "different kind of govt..than a western democracy."

---------------------------
The reason for all this failure is not far to seek. The sum total of Governmental collapse is traceable to the growing spirit of selfishness, graft and greed within the individual. Naturally, the state cannot govern itself: it finds expression and executes its edicts through individuals, hence the State is human. Its animation is but the reflex of our human characters

...When we elect a President of a nation, he should be endowed with absolute authority

http://www.africaspeaks.com/articles/121925.html

[Scurrilous]

1. “Democracy is messy." n/t

[bemildred]

4. Yep, this is Freedumb in action. nt

[barb162]

9. Well that's one way of putting a bright shine on this n/t

[Ian David]

2. What makes this gunfight different from a battle as part of a Civil War?

"Palestinian gunmen from Palestinian Authority Chairman?Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah party stormed election offices and battled police in the Gaza Strip..."

[pelsar]

3. it is part of a civil war..

at least a "low level one"....the question at hand is:

is democracy essential for the PA...or is a dictatorship the preferred governing system?

[Ian David]

5. You mean, are they freedom-hating Rejectionists? n/t

[pelsar]

6. no....

i think they're pissed and have a gun/violent culture...and dont agree with the game rules of democracy....

[barb162]

10. Maybe ask the guys with the black hoods and guns what they are

From the Daily Star article I posted:

"Later, the masked militants posed for television cameras while stepping on a computer" (the computer from the election office)

[barb162]

7. I love the picture of the guy with the black hood and gun in the

Haaretz article; it gives a really warm and fuzzy feeling on how well the Palestinian election process is going.

[barb162]

8. Palestinian election commission closes after repeated attacks

"They" were hauling off computers, shooting in the air and the polls don't look so hot either, showing across the board lack of confidence in the candidates. Seems like a recipe for disaster.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=20754

Palestinian election commission closes after repeated attacks


Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 14, 2005


The Palestinian central election commission shut its doors Tuesday in protest after masked gunmen burst into its West Bank and Gaza offices, firing in the air and hauling off computers. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered his security forces to protect election workers, but officials privately conceded that violence could endanger the January 25 vote - seen as a key to establishing a credible government that could conduct peace talks with Israel.

Contributing to the murky atmosphere, a poll released Tuesday showed nearly a third of the Palestinian people have no faith in any of the possible leaders.

In Tuesday's violence, about 100 Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades gunmen fired in the air as they burst into election headquarters in Gaza City shortly before rival Hamas members were expected to register their candidate lists for the vote, election officials said.

At the same time, gunmen raided election offices in the West Bank city of Nablus, and in Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza. There were heavy clashes with police in Khan Younis but no immediate reports of casualties.
snip