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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 16-Apr-2011
16-Apr-11 News -- Killing of Italian activist exposes splits among Gaza militants

Web Log - April, 2011

16-Apr-11 News -- Killing of Italian activist exposes splits among Gaza militants

Terrorist acts put Hamas-Fatah reconciliation in danger

Killing of Italian activist exposes splits among Gaza militants

Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian pro-Palestinian activist who has been living in Gaza for three years, was abducted and killed on Thursday. A Salafist militant group called Al-Tawhid and Al-Jihad took credit, according to VOA. They offered to spare Arrigoni's life only if Hamas would release all Salafists in prison in Gaza, but then killed him a few hours later.

Vittorio Arrigoni in 2008 (VOA)

Vittorio Arrigoni in 2008 (VOA)

There is widespread Palestinian condemnation of the killing, according to the Palestine News Network, which quotes a Hamas spokesman as saying, "This is a clear attempt to create chaos in Gaza and to destroy the strong relations between the Palestinian people and their friends all over the world."

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) described the murder as an absurd and shameful crime, according to Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI). He added, "This shameful crime goes against all the values of our people who are fighting for freedom and independence." Arrigoni has been working to end the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Salafi beliefs are similar to the Wahhabi sect beliefs of al-Qaeda, and in both cases these beliefs have been reinterpreted to support terrorist and violent acts in support of the most extreme and radical forms of Islam.

Hamas is the organization that has been governing the Gaza Strip since it defeated Fatah (the military wing of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank) in a 2007 war, according to an analysis by Haaretz. However, Hamas is losing control of Gaza, largely because of its own internal complexity, with various wings promoting anything from war with Israel to total peace and coexistence with Israel.

The result is that more militant Gaza groups are asserting their independence from Hamas.

Today the Palestinian Authority is focused on one major goal: To get the United Nations, in September, to recognize a Palestinian state by international mandate, base on pre-1967 borders.

A prerequisite to that goal is for Hamas and Fatah to reconcile, and the Palestinian Authority, in cooperation with the Egyptians, are pressing hard to accomplish that. However, different militant wings in Gaza have been sabotaging that effort, and it seems likely that the murder of Vittorio Arrigoni has the same motivation.

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 16-Apr-11 News -- Killing of Italian activist exposes splits among Gaza militants thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (16-Apr-2011) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 16-Apr-2011 16-Apr-11 News -- Killing of Italian activist exposes splits among Gaza militants

Killing of Italian activist exposes splits among Gaza militants

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 16-Apr-2011
16-Apr-11 News -- Killing of Italian activist exposes splits among Gaza militants