The Hamas-Fatah clash that has culminated into a mini-civil war in recent weeks is both old and new, and while some of its elements are uniquely Palestinian, much of it was manufactured at the behest of US-Israeli intelligence and governments.

The tensions between Fatah and Hamas are decades old. Fatah has - since the late 1960s until today - claimed a superior, if not exclusive, position at the helm of Palestinian politics. At times there seemed little margin for any other organization - be it secular, socialist or religious - to share a platform with Yasser Arafat's movement.

Dramatic developments in the Occupied Territories of Gaza and the West Bank have catapulted the Palestinian freedom struggle onto a track which, despite the accompanying tragedy, may in fact be the only route for the elected government of Hamas to propel.

A day before his 75th birthday, Yusuf Nazeer was laid to rest at Johannesburg's Newclare cemetery, succumbing to a brief few months of illness.

Saudi Arabia's recent moves to broker an inter-Palestinian government of national unity - known as the Mecca Agreement - and followed through with re-floating a five-year old "peace offer" to Israel, has led to a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region.