The Seeds of Civil War

With Arafat loyalists and Hamas militants exchanging threats, turmoil intensifies in the Gaza Strip

The graffiti that covered the white concrete walls of Gaza City during the Israeli occupation are back. Freshly scrawled slogans denounce and threaten in language as bloodcurdling as that used during the intifadeh -- only this time Palestinians are cursing one another, not Israel. RATS, RETURN TO YOUR HOLES, OR ELSE, the Fatah faction warns the more militant Hamas group, which replies, A TRAITOR IS HE WHO FIRED AT OUR PEOPLE. On another wall is the vow FATAH ZEALOTS WILL CHOP OFF THE HEADS OF CONSPIRATORS. Hamas' counterwarning: THE RETRIBUTION WILL COME WITHOUT YOU EVEN HEARING IT.

So much for the...

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