Stephen Pollard obtained an internal BBC memo forecasting Mideast developments in 2007. Mideast Editor Jeremy Bowen (pictured) blames Israel for the Palestinian civil war:
What is new in the last year, and will be one of the big stories in the coming twelve months, is the way that Palestinian society, which used to draw strength from resistance to the occupation, is now fragmenting.
The reason is the death of hope, caused by a cocktail of Israel’s military activities, land expropriation and settlement building – and the financial sanctions imposed on the Hamas led government which are destroying Palestinian institutions that were anyway flawed and fragile.
The result is that internecine violence between Hamas and Fatah is getting worse.
There’s enough blame to go around for the spiraling civil war. Mahmoud Abbas didn’t clamp down on the Palestinian terror infrastructure as demanded by the road map. Hamas would rather let the Palestinians wallow in poverty rather recognize Israel. Most of all, the Palestinian people freely elected their leadership.
