Another Quiz: Is This Referring to Israel and the Pals.?

I have "edited" this next extract.

To what does it refer?

The region has been handed over to the P_________ in a foolish bargain made on behalf of Mr. ____________’s government. Like most violent revolutionary movements, the ___________ use social injustice and a half-understood philosophy as an excuse to grab land and power. Houses and property have been taken over, and the ______ have announced that people should pay 40 percent of their rent to their landlords and 60 percent to “jihad.”

In the district capital, _________, decapitated corpses were dangled from lampposts with notices pinned to them stating the “un-Islamic” action that merited death. At least 185 schools, most for girls, have been closed. Government officials, journalists and security troops have had their throats slit. Little wonder that most of my brother-in-law’s family has fled, along with 400,000 others.

What many Westerners fail to understand is that the ___________ is not one of P________’s wild border areas. It is only ________ miles from _________...Shariah law has been imposed, allowing elderly clerics to dictate the daily lives of the _______ people. President ________’s foreign minister, _____ _________ ________, describes this as “a local solution to a local problem,” but the deal with the _______ represents the most serious blow to the country’s territorial integrity since the civil war of 19__, when the land that became __________ was given up. When territory is surrendered in this way, it is very difficult for the state to recover it. The central premise behind the war on terrorism was that extremist groups should not be allowed sanctuaries from which to threaten the rest of the world.

I think you're thinking, wow, this is referring to a future possibility of that never-never-land "state": "Palestine".

You are probably right - regarding the future.

But it's here and now:

The region has been handed over to the Pakistani Taliban in a foolish bargain made on behalf of Mr. Zardari’s government. Like most violent revolutionary movements, the Taliban use social injustice and a half-understood philosophy as an excuse to grab land and power. Houses and property have been taken over, and the Taliban have announced that people should pay 40 percent of their rent to their landlords and 60 percent to “jihad.”

In the district capital, Mingora, decapitated corpses were dangled from lampposts with notices pinned to them stating the “un-Islamic” action that merited death. At least 185 schools, most for girls, have been closed. Government officials, journalists and security troops have had their throats slit. Little wonder that most of my brother-in-law’s family has fled, along with 400,000 others.

What many Westerners fail to understand is that the Swat Valley is not one of Pakistan’s wild border areas. It is only 100 miles from Islamabad. In the words of Shaheen Sardar Ali, a cousin of Sana’s who is a law professor at Warwick University in England and was the first female cabinet minister in the government of North-West Frontier Province, “Swat is not somewhere you could ever see as being a breeding ground for extremism.” She remembers going to school unveiled as a child in the 1960s and studying alongside boys. But today, any girl who goes to school is risking her life.

Shariah law has been imposed, allowing elderly clerics to dictate the daily lives of the Swati people. President Zardari’s foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, describes this as “a local solution to a local problem,” but the deal with the Taliban represents the most serious blow to the country’s territorial integrity since the civil war of 1971, when the land that became Bangladesh was given up. When territory is surrendered in this way, it is very difficult for the state to recover it. The central premise behind the war on terrorism was that extremist groups should not be allowed sanctuaries from which to threaten the rest of the world.

Source:

Touting Religion, Grabbing Land
By PATRICK FRENCH