About the Sorrows of Petty Nationalities

Abbas fired his director of internal security, Rashid abu Shabak, who was the highest-ranking security official in the Gaza Strip, and according to Al-Quds al-Arabi, sources say Shabak could now be appointed ambassador to Cairo. Shabak had been appointed director of internal security following the Hamas electoral victory in 2006. He was continually at loggerheads with Hamas people, who accuse him of having caused the failure and resignation of two ministers of the interior, Saed Sayyam and more recently Hani Qawasami. Hamas had repeatedly asked Abbas to get rid of Shabak, and in fact prior to the recent events in Gaza, Shabak had tendered his resignation, but Abbas refused to accept it. Security sources in Ramallah said they think Jabril al-Rajoub will be appointed his successor. Rajoub, a top Fatah person, has served as preventive security chief in the West Bank, and was once national security adviser to Arafat. Here comes the part about Dahlan: The firing of Shabak is the first sign of weakened prestige of Mohammed Dahlan, Abbas' top security person, and of his diminished influence in the security apparatus, because Shabak was extremely close to Dahlan, and in fact many people say it was Dahlan who pressured Abbas to appoint [Shabak] to his position [as director of internal security]. It is still too early to say with certainty what will be the extent of Dahlan's power, or weakness as the case may be, or his status vis-a-vis Abbas. That is something that will only become clear with the announcement of the new membership of the National Security Council, where some Fatah sources say Abbas is resisting external pressure, and American [pressure] in particular, to name Dahlan general secretary of the new council. Implying that Dahlan is still Washington's man. In which case you would have to ask again: What was it Dahlan oversaw for them in the Gaza Strip, was it as everyone says, a humiliating defeat, or was it, as far as Washington is concerned, something else?

And there is an old song for you, Mr. Bones! The "parcel of rogues in a nation" song, in fact. Almost nothing in sight, no matter which way you look, but traitors and apostates and this or that pack of foreigners' "man" -- and a' that and a' that!

Could the original brand-name Philistines have invaded their Palestine from Ireland or Scotland, then? I believe the old sources speak of "sea peoples" . . . .

A rash conjecture, that, and one not to be insisted upon.

Safer to assume the very plain likeness is rather structural than genetic. Any trailer trash negligently pushed about by neo-betters who can actually do the pushing is likely to be thus divided. To stand firm for the locals offers spiritual rewards, but then to ratfink for alien invasionists is also not without its, admittedly rather less spiritual, compensations also.

From well outside this particular fray, Mr. Bones and I are inclined to consider it a toss-up and extend a broad and genial toleration to both the neo-collaborationists and to the more traditional "resistance" folks as well. Which I daresay only goes to show how utterly out of touch Mr. Bones and I am are with peripheral Celtic or peripheral Palestinian reality. Should alien invasionism ever befall us personally, no doubt we too would soon be found evolving a "narrative" for the delectation of all future Eng. Lit. departments that is mostly about treason and apostasy and a' that and a' that.

What a curious fate is ours, O Bones! We are perhaps rather like the "poor little rich girl," who understands neither where her Daddy Warbucks' wealth comes from nor why the wage slaves she'd dearly like to be sympática with should detest Warbucks Enterprises LLC so very bitterly. We've been carried up to the top with the Bushevik Wave, Mr. Bones, even though we are only scum and riff-raff, mere obsolete l*b*r*l flotsam and jetsam, no proper part whatsoever of the august and ever-to-be-adored Bushevik Wave itself, no fans at all of their GOP Kiddie Krusade.

From so very precarious and accidental and transitory a lofty eminence as our own, what sermons shall we preach de haut en bas, Mr. Bones, about "The Sorrows of Petty Nationalities" or about anything else?