the smear du jour

There’s a full-fledged PR war going on between Fatah and Hamas. Abbas, having been smeared by Hamas with the accusation that his forces were involved in the kidnapping of Alan Johnston (a notion Johnston did little to dispel when he subtly threw his support behind Hamas), is now smearing Hamas with the jihadist label:

In an interview on Monday with the RAI television network of Italy, Mr. Abbas said, “Thanks to the support of Hamas, Al Qaeda is entering Gaza.”

The accusation, which was quickly denied by Hamas, underscored the depth of Mr. Abbas’s hostility toward Hamas

You don’t say!