Palestine Report - Party time, but which party?
Party time, but which party?
by Ghazi Hamad
As the day draws ever closer to the evacuation of the manifestations of the 38-year Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, preparations to celebrate are in full swing, and the PA is busily hanging up Palestinian flags and banners.
“Today Gaza, tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem,” reads one in the center of Rafah.
“The people liberate, and the people build,” reads another.
Even the Israeli army appears to have gotten into the mood. In full view of those waiting to cross the Abu Holi checkpoint, for example, a large white banner with a red flower painted on it has been hung, bearing the inscription:
“We are all hoping for a new era: stability, prosperity, security and education.”
Yet the streets of Gaza are notably devoid of factional colors, which some consider to be a result of recent tensions between the PA and Hamas. The PA has issued a ban on any other flags than the national flag, and the PA and Fateh are preparing a large number of flags and posters that carry the slogan “one flag, one nation” to be distributed on the eve of the withdrawal.
Officially, the reasoning is that the Israeli withdrawal is a national achievement that should not be hijacked by factional interests. “We have a responsibility to preserve the national symbol, which is being threatened by the symbols of the factions,” said Adnan Al Damairi, head of the Interior Ministry’s press office, regarding the decision to order 100,000 flags to be displayed in the streets.
Meanwhile, Fateh members are at pains to point out that the organization is not putting out its colors. Ayman Al Raqab, leader of the Fatah Youth in southern Gaza, emphasized that the 120,000 outfits being prepared for young men, consisting of white shirts and blue jeans, the 120,000 similar children’s outfits and 120,000 needlepoint shawls for women, to be distributed for the celebrations, will ensure that Fateh’s colors will remain practically absent.
Some members of Hamas, however, see the decision to ban factional colors as an attempt by the PA and Fateh to try to minimize what they see as the group’s role in forcing the evacuation of the settlements.
In turn, this has led to rumors that Hamas is preparing its own celebrations for the day that the settlements are vacated. Both the PA and Fateh are concerned with persistent rumors that the group is planning a large-scale military style show of strength, complete with jeeps, rocket launchers, and armed, uniformed men.
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri says the faction does not have any specific plans for the celebrations and also mooted, yet again, the idea of a national committee composed of all factions to supervise all issues related to the withdrawal, an idea the PA has consistently resisted. Abu Zuhri insists the idea will ensure cooperation between the PA and the factions and will guarantee the absence of any inter-factional strife.
“We want to benefit our people. We are not interested in any chaos or any negative images,” Abu Zuhri told PR. Nevertheless, “we want real participation, and not just to become a decoration.”
Rumors of a Hamas celebration, however, are strengthened by defiant statements such as this, from Mohammad Ghazal, one of the movement’s leaders in the Strip.
“We all know that the withdrawal came as a victory of the resistance and that Hamas had a distinguished role in this victory. No one has the right to forbid it to celebrate”.
A recent Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) poll found that 72 percent of respondents agreed that the Gaza withdrawal was a direct result of the armed resistance.
That perception may be important, though PSR director Khalil Shikaki argues that the PA and Hamas are working towards different goals.
“Hamas considers the withdrawal itself a victory. For the PA, tangible accomplishments would entail gaining control over border crossings, reopening the airport and improving the economic situation - all things that will take time.”
Further raising tensions was a recent statement by Suleiman Al Farra, Khan Younis spokesman for Fateh Central Committee Chair, Farouq Qaddummi, to raise a popular army. The statement led to the arrest of Al Farra on August 7, and the kidnapping of foreign aid workers and subsequent shootout between PA forces and Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members a day later.
Rumors of Hamas’ reported military-style celebrations and calls by Fateh to raise a popular army have been widely criticized.
Political analyst Talal Okal recently wrote in Al Ayyam, “any army formed outside the framework of the PA and its security system indicates that the motivations behind such a move are about the internal situation and are focused on the distribution of internal power.”
They have also led to unprecedented security preparations by the PA, and the security forces and Palestinian police are racing against time to complete their training to take control of the settlements that are to be evacuated.
The security services are not only battling time. Hundreds of tents have been erected in a temporary camp inside the navy headquarters on the seafront in Gaza City, which was destroyed by Israel in 2002. In those basic facilities, however, according to Captain Mohammad Al Rowagh, who is responsible for the training, over 5,000 individuals have now been trained. Palestinian Security sources estimate the number of individuals in the police and Palestinian National Security in the Gaza Strip at nearly 30,000. -Published August 10, 2005©Palestine Report
by Ghazi Hamad
As the day draws ever closer to the evacuation of the manifestations of the 38-year Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, preparations to celebrate are in full swing, and the PA is busily hanging up Palestinian flags and banners.
“Today Gaza, tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem,” reads one in the center of Rafah.
“The people liberate, and the people build,” reads another.
Even the Israeli army appears to have gotten into the mood. In full view of those waiting to cross the Abu Holi checkpoint, for example, a large white banner with a red flower painted on it has been hung, bearing the inscription:
“We are all hoping for a new era: stability, prosperity, security and education.”
Yet the streets of Gaza are notably devoid of factional colors, which some consider to be a result of recent tensions between the PA and Hamas. The PA has issued a ban on any other flags than the national flag, and the PA and Fateh are preparing a large number of flags and posters that carry the slogan “one flag, one nation” to be distributed on the eve of the withdrawal.
Officially, the reasoning is that the Israeli withdrawal is a national achievement that should not be hijacked by factional interests. “We have a responsibility to preserve the national symbol, which is being threatened by the symbols of the factions,” said Adnan Al Damairi, head of the Interior Ministry’s press office, regarding the decision to order 100,000 flags to be displayed in the streets.
Meanwhile, Fateh members are at pains to point out that the organization is not putting out its colors. Ayman Al Raqab, leader of the Fatah Youth in southern Gaza, emphasized that the 120,000 outfits being prepared for young men, consisting of white shirts and blue jeans, the 120,000 similar children’s outfits and 120,000 needlepoint shawls for women, to be distributed for the celebrations, will ensure that Fateh’s colors will remain practically absent.
Some members of Hamas, however, see the decision to ban factional colors as an attempt by the PA and Fateh to try to minimize what they see as the group’s role in forcing the evacuation of the settlements.
In turn, this has led to rumors that Hamas is preparing its own celebrations for the day that the settlements are vacated. Both the PA and Fateh are concerned with persistent rumors that the group is planning a large-scale military style show of strength, complete with jeeps, rocket launchers, and armed, uniformed men.
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri says the faction does not have any specific plans for the celebrations and also mooted, yet again, the idea of a national committee composed of all factions to supervise all issues related to the withdrawal, an idea the PA has consistently resisted. Abu Zuhri insists the idea will ensure cooperation between the PA and the factions and will guarantee the absence of any inter-factional strife.
“We want to benefit our people. We are not interested in any chaos or any negative images,” Abu Zuhri told PR. Nevertheless, “we want real participation, and not just to become a decoration.”
Rumors of a Hamas celebration, however, are strengthened by defiant statements such as this, from Mohammad Ghazal, one of the movement’s leaders in the Strip.
“We all know that the withdrawal came as a victory of the resistance and that Hamas had a distinguished role in this victory. No one has the right to forbid it to celebrate”.
A recent Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) poll found that 72 percent of respondents agreed that the Gaza withdrawal was a direct result of the armed resistance.
That perception may be important, though PSR director Khalil Shikaki argues that the PA and Hamas are working towards different goals.
“Hamas considers the withdrawal itself a victory. For the PA, tangible accomplishments would entail gaining control over border crossings, reopening the airport and improving the economic situation - all things that will take time.”
Further raising tensions was a recent statement by Suleiman Al Farra, Khan Younis spokesman for Fateh Central Committee Chair, Farouq Qaddummi, to raise a popular army. The statement led to the arrest of Al Farra on August 7, and the kidnapping of foreign aid workers and subsequent shootout between PA forces and Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members a day later.
Rumors of Hamas’ reported military-style celebrations and calls by Fateh to raise a popular army have been widely criticized.
Political analyst Talal Okal recently wrote in Al Ayyam, “any army formed outside the framework of the PA and its security system indicates that the motivations behind such a move are about the internal situation and are focused on the distribution of internal power.”
They have also led to unprecedented security preparations by the PA, and the security forces and Palestinian police are racing against time to complete their training to take control of the settlements that are to be evacuated.
The security services are not only battling time. Hundreds of tents have been erected in a temporary camp inside the navy headquarters on the seafront in Gaza City, which was destroyed by Israel in 2002. In those basic facilities, however, according to Captain Mohammad Al Rowagh, who is responsible for the training, over 5,000 individuals have now been trained. Palestinian Security sources estimate the number of individuals in the police and Palestinian National Security in the Gaza Strip at nearly 30,000. -Published August 10, 2005©Palestine Report
posted by solitarioh2005 at
11:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home