Hamastan and Fatahland?

The International Community is seeking a solution to the split in the Palestinian community. Leading the list of proposals is a suggestion to have a two state solution, dividing the West Bank and Gaza.

The symbol of the new power in Gaza, the green Hamas flag can dust the winds of the West Bank only because it's hidden between the hills of the Kober village. After last week's chaos in Gaza, Hamas leaders here face threats and prefer to remain undercover.

A former minister of Labour, Mohammad Bargouti, lost his job with the creation of the new emergency government. He is now starting a safer career of a school master in Kober village.

“There is no excuse for what happened in Gaza, when Palestinians are killing Palestinians. Yes, there was violence from Hamas militants towards Fatah, but Fatah killed Hamas in Gaza as well. As a result, the whole Palestinian nation was weakened faced with the Israeli enemy,” Mohammad Bargouti maintains

He wants One Palestinian state run by Fatah and Hamas. A scenario highly unlikely, considering the fact that the movement that gathered over 60% in last year's parliamentary elections is falling in popularity. In Ramallah, Hamas supporters are nowhere to be found.

“They have all disappeared,” said man who runs a barber shop in the building of former Hamas headquarters. They call them murderers that put Palestine 50 years back. Many of those who voted for Hamas have changed their attitudes.

But Hamas members are not the only ones in hiding. Hundreds of Fatah militants who fled Gaza are now in Ramallah. They are supposed to feel safe here among their supporters but instead they say that they are strangers in their own home. The militants are not welcome here.

In Ramallah's outskirts, six hotels have been filled with men fleeing their homes in Gaza. Fearing Hamas, they agreed to tell their story without revealing their identities.

“We feel like refugees. Like in 1948 Palestinian people left their homes and their families because of Israel, but we left because of our own brothers, the Palestinians,” stated one anonymous Fatah fighter from Gaza.

But for now, the world decision-makers are pushing for a two state solution. Fatah West bank and Hamas Gaza is no solution for Gazan Fatah in exile in Ramallah and West bank's Hamas imprisoned in their own homes.