housands of Palestinians defied the radical Islamist movement Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip to pray outside on Friday in a public protest called by opposition parties.
Surrounded by hundreds of members of a Hamas paramilitary, the protestors gathered in a large square holding up Palestinian flags, an AFP reporter said.
Dozens of young people shouted “Shiites, Shiites” in a well-known insult against Hamas, which is seen as close to Iran, a majority Shiite country, and called for Palestinian national unity.
The Fatah party chaired by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas led calls for outside prayers on the main Muslim day of rest on Friday after accusing Hamas of “exploiting mosques to enflame tensions and provocations between factions.”
Other movements belonging to the Palestine Liberation Organization — to which Hamas does not belong — issued the same call.
Dozens of Palestinians in Gaza received text messages warning them not to attend outdoor prayers with Fatah loyalists.
But they did nonetheless. It will be interesting to see how Hamas will deal with this (mild) revolt. Will the extremists of Hamas adopt a ‘kill the opposition’ policy (once again), or will they try to use carrot this time, not the stick?
Considering this threat: “Attending prayers with Fatah will cause you a lot of problems and we advise you to pray elsewhere. You don’t deserve to be hit, arrested or killed for a corrupt gang that you know well,” it seems logical to assume that Hamas will once again use violence.
If Hamas does, what will the reaction of Gazans be? Will the opposition be encouraged? Will more Palestinians turn against Hamas?
Interesting.
