Democracy, Palestinian style

After the Soviet Union fell, long-simmering regional disputes exploded, and we got to witness the ugliness of Central European civil war and genocide.  It was a reminder that a common enemy often serves to unite otherwise deep factional divisions.  I was reminded of this when I saw yet another story of Palestinians run amok:

Hundreds of Palestinian security personnel loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah faction went on a rampage tonight in Ramallah, firing bullets at the parliament and cabinet buildings and setting them on fire, after gunmen from the militant faction Hamas attacked the headquarters of the Fatah-dominated preventive security forces in Gaza with rockets and grenades.

And so on and so forth. 

Many, many years ago (about 25+), a lovely Arab woman I knew told me that there would never be peace in the Middle East because of problems amongst the Arabs themselves.  She said, "If you offer around a plate of cookies to a group of Arabs, they'll beginning fighting over whether they should be called cookies, or biscuits, or crackers.  And before you know it, they'll begin killing each other."  I've never forgotten that bit of insight.