Radio Wars

It appears that the Palestinians involved in the civil war are using some pretty harsh language against each other.

The recent fighting between Hamas and Fatah did not just play out in the streets of the Gaza Strip. The rival groups also pummeled each other over the airwaves, calling each other's fighters "mercenary death squads," "child killers" and even "Zionists."

The harsh rhetoric, coupled with the stations' ability to quickly rally their armed supporters in the streets, has led to fears that the local disc jockeys could fan the flames of the recent violence into a full-blown of civil war.

"If we wanted, we could burn down Gaza," said a smiling Ibrahim Daher, director of Aksa Radio, the voice in Gaza of the Islamic militant group Hamas.

He said it with a smile. That must be a real comfort to the people of Gaza. It must be a comfort to see them call each other Zionists. So they are all against Zionists. Nice to see they have national unity on that point. Their problem is that half the Palestinians may be Zionists too and no one can decide which half. This will require some sorting out.

With a lull in the recent infighting, the radio stations have toned down as well. But with no political solution in sight, the radios may yet wage another battle.

"Radio is in every house, every car and every street. It can cause a revolution or quell one. That's a dangerous role," said Salah al-Masri, director of Al-Quds Radio, funded by the radical Islamic Jihad.

"I bet you, in a few hours, I can orchestrate a protest. The question is what kind. We can launch a protest against the Israeli occupation, or at (Abbas), or fire rockets," he said.

Think if they just applied this power to something useful. Nah. Why waste the effort even thinking about it? Not going to happen. At least not for a very long time.

AP reporter Sarah El Deeb has been covering Gaza's factional fighting, often pinned down indoors by gunfire and venturing outside during periods of lull. Here are her notes from the sidelines:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Never mind the almost daily cease-fire announcements. The music played on the radio stations of Hamas and Fatah is a much better guide to war and peace.


When both Hamas's Al Aqsa radio and Fatah's Al Shabab station played "Today is the day of rage" simultaneously a few days ago, it was pretty clear the guns would not fall silent. At times of heavy clashes, the playlists also include Islamic marching songs or odes to legendary Fatah founder Yasser Arafat.

When the two sides withdraw their forces from time to time, songs about Jerusalem are popular, as a unifying theme. Lebanese singer Fairouz is a favorite on Al Shabab, as a demonstration of secular nationalist sentiment.

Radio broadcasts also air political statements and take calls from listeners trapped at home. Trying to lower the enemy's morale, Al Shabab reported that scores of Hamas militiamen had defected. Al Aqsa Radio quickly retaliated with a similar report.

When a new cease-fire was announced Sunday, both stations broadcast the same phone number for listeners to report violations to a police operations room with Hamas and Fatah observers. They received dozens of calls on the first day. And resumed playing songs of national unity.

News reports. Reports of enemy action. Psychological warfare. Boosting morale. Sounds like American radio during WW2.

Note: I had a Palestinian report on the joint operations room in Cease Fire Holding. I also noted in that report that there were some hot heads who would not give up the fight. Murders needed to be avenged.

Here is some more on the hot heads.

After nightfall, thunderous gunfire frequently erupted outside a building housing visiting Associated Press staffers in Gaza City, with some of the shooting coming from a nearby building.

It was more than just a fight between Hamas and Fatah.

The Bakr clan, clamoring for revenge, was after the killer of a 17-year-old member, Mahmoud Bakr, who died in the crossfire last week. For four nights, dozens of masked Bakr men, armed and in black uniforms, pinned down a dozen Hamas gunmen — whom they blamed for Mahmoud's death — on a rooftop.

The fighting is increasingly about settling personal scores, and the element of revenge will make it harder to enforce a cease-fire, even if Hamas and Fatah are to reach an elusive power-sharing agreement.

The grieving father, Anan Bakr, a member of the Fatah-linked Preventive Security Service, said the battle has become personal. "In our tradition, in our religion, whoever kills must be killed, even after time passes," he said.

In It's A Family Affair I covered one blood feud. Obviously there are others. With 70 or 80 dead so far there is a lot of revenging to be done. And those revenge killings will require more killings. The Hatfields and McCoys.

Shin Bet security service head Yuval Diskin said he thought it was not in Israel's best interest to get involved in Gaza while Fatah and Hamas were fighting each other.

He does point out the devolution of the fighing from a nationalist struggle to a tribal struggle.

The major problem facing Israel in the territories, Diskin believes, is the collapse of government in the PA. This is particularly evident in the Gaza Strip, where "there is a return to the clan. Clan loyalty is now more evident than loyalty to any group."

The clan influence, Diskin said, is directly linked with the desire to seek revenge for the dead from the recent internecine clashes, and it poses an obstacle to reaching a cease-fire, even if the leadership of Fatah and Hamas appears to be interested in an accord.

This return to Tribalism and the unwavering desire for Israel's destruction which Diskin also goes into, portends a future of fighting for the Israelis. With any kind of luck the Palestinians will destroy their own societies without much direct military help from the Israelis.