Palestinians rally to demand end to divisions between Fatah and Hamas

THOUSANDS OF Palestinians demonstrated yesterday in Gaza and the West Bank demanding reconciliation and unity between Hamas and Fatah, in their first major rallies since the wave of unrest in Arab states began.

Demonstrators brandishing Palestinian flags chanted: “The people want to end the division.”

In Gaza, independent youths converged on Monday afternoon on Unknown Soldiers Square and spent the night there to prevent Hamas, which rules the strip, from hijacking the rally for its own political purposes.

When Hamas activists, carrying the movement’s green flags, infiltrated the area yesterday morning, independents shouted: “The people want to drop [partisan] flags!”

Independents moved to another square and were joined by several thousand others.

In the West Bank, where the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority administers Palestinian enclaves, several thousand people gathered at al-Manara Square in Ramallah.

This time, some Fatah hardliners attempted to fly flags.

Organisers camped overnight in the square began a hunger strike to put pressure on leaders of the rival movements to work together towards achieving liberation.

Rallies were called by the March 15th Youth Movement across the West Bank, which has adopted the slogan, “No to division, no to split”, and organised on Facebook.

The split came when Hamas routed Fatah’s forces in Gaza in June 2007 after several days of bitter fighting.

Egypt tried and failed to broker a reconciliation agreement.

Hamas-Fatah negotiations were suspended last year when Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah’s head, agreed to direct talks with Israel in spite of its refusal to halt settlement construction in the West Bank.

Talks ended when Israel resumed building.

Gaza’s de facto premier Ismail Haniyeh called on Fatah to agree to meet and resolve differences, but Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf rejected this, claiming the Hamas call for unity “is not serious. It’s a way to bypass the people’s movement aimed at ending the split.”

Fatah is caught between the majority of Palestinians, who want unity, and Israel and the US, which regard Hamas as a “terrorist” movement.

Fatah seeks a negotiated settlement with Israel, which rejects contacts with Hamas, while the US provides backing for the Palestinian Authority.

The protracted failure to achieve progress in negotiations is putting pressure on Fatah to opt for unity.