even the Palestians hate this piece of shit:
Arafat Under Pressure After Palestinian PM Quits
Sun Jul 18, 2004 08:17 AM ET
By Shahdi al-Kashif
GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian militants attacked a Palestinian security post in Gaza on Sunday, stepping up pressure on President Yasser Arafat to stamp out corruption in a crisis deepened by the resignation of his prime minister.
Arafat has not faced such a chorus of local and international demands for change in nearly four years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He refused to accept Ahmed Qurie's resignation on Saturday as premier and named a new Gaza security chief, his relative Moussa Arafat, prompting thousands to march in Gaza against the appointment of a member of an old guard widely seen as corrupt.
At a meeting on Sunday of the Palestinian National Security Council, Arafat told Qurie he "strongly rejects" his decision to quit, cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said.
Calls for reform have multiplied amid a brewing factional power struggle in the Gaza Strip in anticipation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's planned withdrawal of troops and settlers from the occupied territory by the end of 2005.
Sharon said Palestinian in-fighting showed he was right to take unilateral action rather than negotiate with Arafat's government.
"What is happening in the Palestinian Authority proves that all the contrived efforts to show that there is someone to talk to on the Palestinian side are motivated by personal interests and are unrealistic," an official quoted Sharon as telling his cabinet.
In the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, gunmen attacked and burned down a post manned by members of a security service already controlled by Moussa Arafat, sending officers fleeing into the night.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group within Arafat's Fatah faction, said it destroyed the facility. "Moussa Arafat's appointment will not pass, and he must submit his resignation," the brigades said in a statement.
At a news conference after the attack, Moussa Arafat said he had no intention of stepping down.
In a new blow to the Palestinian president's prestige, the commander of the Palestinian coast guard, Juma Ghali, tendered his resignation. Security sources said Ghali was protesting against Moussa Arafat's appointment and instability in Gaza.
The coast guard -- officially known as the Palestinian Navy -- is a major branch of the security forces. Although it has no ships, its members man posts in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
"UNPRECEDENTED CHAOS"
Submitting his resignation, Qurie complained about "unprecedented chaos" in Gaza triggered by the brief abduction on Friday of four French aid workers, the police chief and another official by gunmen demanding reforms.
"Things have changed in the last two days. There are no more sacred cows. People are simply fed up," Sufian Abu Zaideh, a Palestinian deputy minister, told Israeli Army Radio.
Arafat ordered a security shake-up in Gaza, merging 12 competing armed forces into three. After Arafat rejected his resignation, Qurie suggested his decision was on hold at least until a Palestinian Authority cabinet meeting on Monday.
In the past, Arafat has paid little more than lip-service to reforms likely to diminish his influence.
A warning to Arafat from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades added to fears that violence could spiral.
It urged Arafat to try officials accused of corruption and said trouble could spread to the West Bank, home to 2.3 million Palestinians as well as Arafat and most of his Authority's institutions. Some 1.3 million Palestinians live in Gaza.
To those it branded corrupt, the Brigades said: "We will punish you if you don't repent and return the stolen money back to the people."
Palestinian officials say Arafat's ability to carry out reforms or rein in militants has been hampered by constant Israeli raids. Israel and the United States accuse Arafat of fomenting violence, which he denies. (Additional reporting by Wafa Amr in Ramallah)
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