Swimming in Gaza

Palestinians are in a weird, jurisdictional twilight zone. In Gaza and in the West Bank, you have two governments pretending that the other doesn't exist.

So in Gaza, you have a bizarre situation. Cops were warned by President Mahmoud Abbas --who presides over the West Bank and who will have money rolling in from the Bush Administration and the Europeans-- that if they want to collect their salaries, they'd better stay home. And if they dare to show up at the police station, or God forbid, try to catch some thieves, they'll lose their jobs.

Ordinarily, this would be a boon to Gaza's crooks. But right now, everybody is obeying Gaza's new rulers, the Islamic militants Hamas, who chased off Abbas' men last week Hamas is short-handed; they're still rounding up weapons and hunting down fugitive Fatah commanders who must now be deeply regretting having ripped out the beards of the religious Hamas guys (and more unspeakable things) when Fatah was running the show in Gaza. Hamas' Wanted List has 85 names on it, and understandably, anyone linked to the Fatah security forces is laying low.

Busy hunting down their enemies, Hamas has passed off the job of directing traffic to youths from the mosques and Islamic University, who have appeared at cross-roads in green baseball caps and day-glow lime colored vests. It's a job that will soon become obsolete; since Israel has barricaded supplies from entering the new Hamas state of Gaza, there's only enough gasoline to last for six more days.

Naturally, Gazanas are worried about this Israeli blockade. An IV drip of humanitarian aid from the UN will be allowed in, but that's just enough to keep Gaza's 1.4 million from starving. It's no wonder that the first thing Gazans did after Fatah's defeat was to hit the shops, buying up food and candles for the grim days ahead. Then, thousands of families hit the beach to celebrate the first time in months that nobody was trying to kill each other. If you can't eat or work, might as well go swimming.

--by Tim McGirk/Gaza