Ramallah - Some 3,000 Palestinians marched in the West Bank
city of Ramallah Friday to protest Israel's offensive in Gaza, waving
Palestinian flags, chanting 'the blood of the martyrs will not go to
waste,' and holding up signs calling for West Bank-Gaza unity.
Women holding up copies of the Koran chanted slogans in support of
Hamas, as Palestinian police in uniform walked behind but did not try
to stop them.
Plain-clothes security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas,
whose Fatah party is locked in a bitter power struggle with Hamas,
had beaten and arrested marchers shouting pro-Hamas slogans during
similar demonstrations over the past two Fridays.
But organizers - of an umbrella group representing various
factions including the two rival parties - then threatened to cancel
all planned West Bank demonstrations against the Israeli assault in
Gaza.
They withdrew their threat after acting Palestinian Interior
Minister Abdul Razzaq Yahya, in a meeting with the group, promised no
longer to use force against Hamas demonstrators.
As part of a compromise, the parties agreed not to carry Hamas and
Fatah, but only Palestinian flags during Friday's protest.
Tensions between the two groups have remained high since they
peaked in June 2007, when Hamas seized sole control of Gaza by
violently overpowering the headquarters throughout the strip of
Fatah- dominated security forces answering to Abbas.
Since then, Hamas has cracked down on Fatah supporters in Gaza,
while also Abbas, fearing a similar violent take-over in the West
Bank, has acted heavy-handedly against Hamas members.
The tensions have led to a relatively low turn-out in the West
Bank protests against Israel, despite widespread outrage among
Palestinians over the surging death toll in Gaza, where more than
1,100 people have been killed and 5,000 wounded over the past three
weeks.
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