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I’ve had to revise this page (Dec. 19, 2023) in response to my own poor editing ages ago. My comment, here italicized, had appeared some time ago on Facebook, and I seem not in the mood to search for it. 

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Why focus always returns to Israel or the Jews eludes me when, in fact, the primary conflict driver has been Arab and other (well, Russian) anti-Semitic habit welded to lies and willful political misguidance to keep democracy and humanism away from the dictatorships, including those systems headed by Palestinian “leaders”, disinterested in either. In fact, The Palestinians have been long weaponized – politically perverted in mind, heart, soul — by those who have most pretended to represent them (while in fact ensuring their continued plunder).
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In 2016, Ronen Bergman put together a piece of history involving Russia’s then secret political police, the KGB, and the Palestinians. It was the start of an era in which an alternative Palestinian liberation myth could be installed in the refugee population and used to goad the west (with terrorism) and block the expansion of western liberalism as represented by Israel. The rest would seem a history of capture and enslavement by anti-democratic and illiberal forces bent on plundering Palestinian support for their own pockets and lavish lifestyles.

Ronen Bergman’s report on the KGB’s supporting the Palestinians has been organized in three parts (starting in October 2016) with this page serving as the base: Bergman, Ronen. “The KGB’s MIddle East Files.” Ynet News, 2016.

Earlier on BackChannels

“FTAC: Palestinian KGB: Another Remark.” February 11, 2021.

“Set: ‘Palestinian KGB’ and Other BackChannels Observations Related to the Middle East Conflict.” February 6, 2018.

I confess only to having made note of the KGB-Palestinian relationship a time or two and to asking the apparently novel question: why has the world not focused on the Palestinian’s feudal internal politics and the community’s historic emotional dependence on Moscow?

What earlier Arab intransigence, anti-Semitism, and KGB ends have done to the Arab refugees of 1948 (at that time, left stranded between armies) has perhaps today an unspeakable quality as vast sums intended for the community’s development have been diverted to war (“Resistance!” they call it) for more than 73 years — and the Palestinian main base has gotten nothing out of that deal but absolute rule (no elections!), corruption and exploitation, Gaza (for Hamas!), neglect, political repression, and, as a sop in the press, the globally distributed artificial image of an heroic narcissism for ultimately gazing upon themselves.

Related Online

The easiest of related web searches: “Fatah, corruption”; “Hamas, corruption”; “Palestinian child soldiers”; etc. Have curiosity, and you may travel online to your heart’s content. Nonetheless, I’ve listed a few ready references with which to click through to both greater knowledge and reflection.

Amnesty. “Gaza: Journalist facing prison term for exposing corruption in Hamas-controlled ministry.” February 25, 2019.

Bates, McKenna. “Telling the Truth About Palestinian Child Soldiers.” The Algemeiner, March 8, 2020.

Council on Foreign Relations. “Corruption in the Palestinian Authority.” April 5, 2018.

Dwek, Nimrod. “Hamas, Fatah: The tragedy of corrupted regimes – opinion. The Jerusalem Post, May 20, 2021.

Faus, Jocogo Salvador Mico. “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and “Hamas’ child soldiers.” Atalayar, May 12, 2021.

Freiman, Myer. “Hamas Killed 160 Palestinian Children to Build Tunnels.” Tablet, July 25, 2014.

GAB, The Global Anticorruption Blog. “A Closer Look at Corruption, Hamas, and Violence in the Gaza Strip.” June 28, 2021.

Giovannetti, Megan. “Palestinians furious and fed up with corruption of Abbas’s ‘mafia’ PA.” Middle East Eye, February 15, 2019.

McGreal, Chris. “Fatah struggles with tainted image.” The Guardian, January 24, 2006.

Starr, Michael. “Why Are Palestinian Child Soldiers Ignored.” The Times of Israel, February 19, 2021.

Ali was incredulous. “You call them a government?” he asked. “I call them mafia.”

For the 22-year-old Palestinian resident of the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron, the Palestinian Authority (PA), headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, is a corrupt institution that benefits only an elite few.

Giovannetti, Megan. “Palestinians furious and fed up with corruption of Abbas’s ‘mafia’ PA.” Middle East Eye, February 15, 2019.

Addendum to Reference After Initial Publication

Caligiuri, Gabriel. “The Crescent and the Sickle: A History of “Free Palestine.” Frontier Alliance International, November 1, 2024.

Heinze, Eric. “Russia is the global leader in Jew-hate.” The Jewish Chronicle, February 24, 2017.

Liberpedia. “Palestine/KGB”.

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