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Gaza Descends into Lawlessness as Clans Fill Void Created by War
(The Times-UK) Amal Helles - Lawlessness has gripped Gaza in recent months. Ajith Sunghay said: "The police have been absent, so each person is on her or his own....You hear constant firing in the neighborhood. Some of these are what they call 'family disputes.'" The result has been widespread looting and theft. Well-armed clans and gangs fill the vacuum and control monopolies on everything from chickens and cigarettes to the roads through which the aid trucks may pass. Aid and commercial goods are stripped from vehicles by gangs and end up in the hands of clans, who sell them for exorbitant prices. Justice is meted out by mobs wielding rifles and machetes. When Hamas took over in 2007, it sidelined the territory's powerful clans but allowed them to keep their weapons. "There are 3,000 men in every family at the minimum, and some of them are very well armed. Hamas didn't disarm the families," said Mkhaimar Abusada, a Palestinian analyst and political science professor at Gaza's Al-Azhar University. While the Israeli government's goal is to eradicate Hamas, "It's too early to even think that Hamas is going to disappear, and we all know that Hamas is still powerful," Abusada said. Although many Gazans quietly blame Hamas for inviting the devastating war, not many are willing to confront or criticize the group, which has threatened anyone who deals with the Israelis.