 |
 |
 |
|
|
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Israel Insider staff August 24, 2007 |
|
| |
 Bookmark to del.icio.us |
| |
Hamas militants attempted to quell a demonstration by Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip on Friday, firing shots over the heads of hundreds of protesters, an event that featured prominently in the press today. The group detained several journalists filming and photographing the rally.
The protest was the second of its kind in two weeks, possible indicating fractures in Hamas' grip on the Strip. Hamas has clamped down on any show of opposition, outlawing protests without permission from party officials and raiding the offices of various media outlets, both local and Western.
"The events today are a clear sign that Fatah did not vanish with the Hamas coup," a Fatah official told Reuters, Ynet reported. "People are against Hamas suppression of Fatah. Hamas thought it can eliminate Fatah -- they are wrong. Fatah is rising again."
The protesters, chanting pro-Fatah slogans, marched on a former Fatah compound in Gaza City that Hamas took over following its bloody putsch in June. Participants threw stones and empty bottles and waved yellow Fatah flags, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Several Hamas gunmen beat up a Reuters TV cameraman and attempted to confiscate his camera. Protesters intervened, beating the gunmen and preventing them from stealing the cameraman's footage.
"They were beating me from behind, not heavily," said Reuters photographer Abed-Rabbo Shana, according to Ynet, adding that a Hamas militant pointed his gun at his legs and threatened to shoot.
Hamas gunmen also detained an Agence France Press photographer working and a cameraman for the Russian TV channel Russia Today, as well as two other reporters working for local news sources. Militants also broke a TV camera belonging to the Arabic-language TV network al-Arabiya.
Pro-Fatah protesters pejoratively called the Hamas militants "Shiites," referring to the group's alliance with Iran's extremist regime, which has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
