Apparently, Palestinians are worried that the civil war between Hamas and Fatah is going to damage their image with the international community: Palestinian W. Bank residents: ‘We don’t deserve a state’. (Hat tip: WriterMom.)

There are no words for dark irony this profound.

As the fighting between Fatah and Hamas continues in the Gaza Strip, many residents here said Saturday that they were concerned that the international community would turn its back on the Palestinians.

Although the street battles remain restricted to the Gaza Strip, tensions are mounting in the West Bank between supporters of the two parties, particularly in the aftermath of the abduction of several Hamas figures by Fatah gunmen over the past few days.

Many Hamas leaders in the West Bank, where Fatah remains the stronger party, are said to have gone underground for fear of being targeted by members of Fatah’s armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

On Friday, the group issued a warning to all Hamas leaders in the West Bank to condemn the fighting in the Gaza Strip or face retaliatory measures.

On Saturday, a number of Hamas figures in the West Bank came under attack by Fatah gunmen. In Kalkilya, the gunmen opened fire at the home of the city’s Hamas mayor, Wajih Kawwas. No one was hurt. In Nablus, three Hamas members were kidnapped and the offices of the movement’s legislators were set on fire.

Fayez Abu Rawdah, a senior Hamas official in Ramallah, was kidnapped for four hours on Friday night. His Fatah captors released him after handing him a letter addressed to the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. The letter contained a threat to kill all Hamas leaders in the West Bank.

“Everyone here is disgusted by what’s happening in the Gaza Strip,” said Shireen Atiyeh, a 30-year-old mother of three working in one of the Palestinian Authority ministries. “We are telling the world that we don’t deserve a state because we are murdering each other and destroying our universities, colleges, mosques and hospitals. Today I’m ashamed to say that I’m a Palestinian.”

Ayman Abu Khalaf, a 40-year-old businessman, said he was seriously considering moving with his family to Jordan because of the growing state of anarchy and lawlessness in the PA territories.

“The situation is very dangerous and many people are afraid to leave their homes,” he said. “I’m very worried about the safety of my children. There are many armed gangs and everyone is afraid. If the situation does not improve, I will take my family and go to Jordan. This is not the Palestine we want to live in.”

Hafez Barghouti, editor of the PA-funded daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, said he was concerned that the fighting would tarnish the image of the Palestinians. “Tens of millions of people now look at us as worthless gangsters with no values,” he complained.

Only now look at you as worthless gangsters? I guess we were supposed to think you were noble freedom fighters while you were only murdering Jewish women and children, or when you danced for joy on 9/11.

What’s happening now is showing the true nature of the death cult society the Palestinians have built for decades, indoctrinating their children to a life of murder, destruction, and genocide. With the security barrier, and determined action against the terror gangs, Israel has made it too difficult for them to murder helpless people in restaurants, buses, and markets. So they’re turning on each other like cornered rats.

The sympathy meter is reading exactly zero, now that the bill is coming due for their deal with the devil.

UPDATE at 2/3/07 8:57:44 pm:

And to complete the circle of dark irony, our government continues to pour tens of millions of dollars into the bloody hands of these evil thugs: U.S. to support up to 10,000 extra Abbas troops.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States will expand assistance to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to include about 8,500 members of his national security forces and possibly 1,000 Fatah fighters based in Jordan, U.S. documents show.

Providing non-lethal equipment and training to units of Abbas’s National Security Forces, and possibly the Jordan-based Badr Brigade could increase Washington’s role in the power struggle between Abbas’s Fatah faction and the governing Hamas movement.

U.S. assistance has largely been limited until now to around 4,000 members of Abbas’s presidential guard. But documents obtained by Reuters on Saturday showed that the U.S. government’s $86.4 million security assistance program could cover at least 13,500 troops loyal to Abbas.

The National Security Forces (NSF) is the largest security force under Abbas’s control and is viewed by many Palestinians to be the equivalent of an army, though it is poorly trained and equipped compared to the smaller presidential guard.

Under the U.S. security program, $76.4 million will fund “projects to transform and strengthen elements of the Palestinian Authority’s security structure, specifically the National Security Forces and Presidential Guard in an effort to improve public order and fight terror in the West Bank and Gaza,” the documents said.

“These projects have been developed in coordination with the office of the PA president (Abbas), and the overall plan enjoys the support of the government of Israel,” said the documents, marked “sensitive but unclassified.”