Nearly a decade ago, former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was so upset with Hamas that he ordered his security forces to arrest leaders of the Islamist movement and shave their beards. The move was intended to humiliate the Hamas leaders, who were embarrassed to appear in public beardless after they were freed. Many Hamas members then shaved their beards voluntarily to avoid being arrested by the PA security forces.
Now Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces are working hard to thwart any attempt by Hamas to seize the West Bank, has renewed the policy of shaving the beards of Hamas figures. A senior Hamas figure from the village of Skaka near Nablus is the latest victim of the beard-shaving policy. Sheikh Husam Harb, 48, who has been wearing a beard ever since he was a teenager, was arrested by Abbas's security forces in mid-October on charges of membership in Hamas.
(…)
Anas al-Haj, a 20 year-old bearded man from the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, said he was kidnapped by PA policemen who stopped a taxi he was riding "because I was the only one with a beard." He said the policemen took him to a security installation, where they beat him severely and extinguished cigarettes on his beard and other parts of the body.
Haj said that while in detention he met another young man, Husam Abu Qainas, who was also wearing a beard. He said the PA policemen took them to a tower in Gaza City, where they pushed Abu Qainas to his death from the 14th floor.
"Abu Qainas was actually a member of the Palestinian security forces," he added. "On the way to the tower, he kept pleading with the policemen to let him go because he was not a member of Hamas. But they didn't believe him. They asked him, 'If you are really not from Hamas, how come you have a beard?' He replied that he was too poor to buy razors and that's why he hadn't shaved his face. But they did not believe him and pushed him to his death."
Haj said he was then taken to a security compound, where he was shot 12 times in the legs. "I tried to explain to them that I'm not from Hamas, but they didn't want to listen," he said. "My only crime, like that of Husam Abu Qainas, was that I had a beard. For them this was enough to shoot me and kill him."
And these represent the forces of the so-called moderate Palestinians. Every time I read or hear someone maintain that Fatah is so much more moderate than Hamas I have this desire to pull-up my archives and shove them down their throat or ask what cave they have been hiding in for the last 35 years or so? Fatah has forgotten more ways to torture than Hamas has committed atrocities.
I have been remiss in not posting this story from the West Bank earlier in the week. The Jerusalem Post reports 60 were injured in this clash with the Palestinian Security forces at a funeral:
"Today we are going to break the bones of anyone who dares to demonstrate in the street," a Palestinian police officer shouted at a group of journalists as they arrived to cover the funeral of a man who was killed a day earlier during protests against the Annapolis peace conference. "Are you from the Aksa TV?" another police officer jokingly asked a Danish TV crew, referring to the Hamas-run station.And these are the so-called moderates. But no tales of Fatah moderation would be complete without this breaking news from the Jerusalem Post:
The two officers were among some 300 policemen who were deployed outside the Hussein mosque in the center of this city to prevent an outbreak of violence during the funeral of Hisham al-Baradi, 37. Baradi, a member of the Islamic fundamentalist Hizb al-Tahrir [Party of Liberation], was shot dead by security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during fierce clashes that erupted here on Tuesday. Determined to prevent a repeat of the anti-Annapolis demonstrations that swept the West Bank on Tuesday, PA security commanders issued firm orders to their men to use an "iron-fist" policy against anyone who breaks the law.
On the eve of the conference, the PA leadership in Ramallah, citing security concerns, banned all public protests. But the ban did not prevent thousands from taking to the streets of West Bank cities to voice their opposition to the US-sponsored conference. The demonstrations, which came as a surprise to the PA leadership, were organized by both Hamas and Hizb al-Tahrir. The harsh response of Abbas's security forces did not stop thousands of supporters of the two Islamist groups from participating in the funeral of Baradi on Wednesday.
(…)
By the end of the day, residents said at least 60 people were injured, half of them policemen. Many residents expressed fear that the clashes signaled the beginning of a civil war among the Palestinians in the West Bank in the aftermath of Annapolis. Others said the protests and anarchy actually marked the beginning of the end of Abbas.
"I can't believe these are Palestinian policemen," said Ahmed Da'ana as he hid inside his shop to avoid the shooting. "They are behaving worse than the Israeli army. This is going to lead to civil war." A woman who passed by as the policemen were still firing into the air and beating demonstrators broke into tears. "Shame on you!" she barked at the stunned policemen, some of whom had masks on their faces. "What's this? Is this what Arabs are doing to each other? Allahu Akbar [God is great]! Where are the Muslims? Where is the world?" Brandishing his rifle, one of the policemen tried to silence her by shoving away the journalists who had gathered around her. Undeterred, she continued to hurl abuse at the policeman and his friends, accusing them of being collaborators with Israel and the US.
Then the same policeman went on to threaten a CNN correspondent that he would break his camera if he dared to broadcast his picture. A day earlier, several Palestinian journalists were severely beaten during the demonstrations by Palestinian policemen. Senior PA officials have since apologized for the attacks on the journalists, vowing to launch an investigation.
Hizb al-Tahrir spokesman Maher Ja'bari, who attended the funeral, said Baradi had been killed only because he dared to express his opinion during a public protest. Like many residents of Hebron, which has long been known as a stronghold for Hamas and other Islamic organizations, Ja'bari said he believed that Abbas was on his way to losing control over the West Bank. "I believe this is the end of the Oslo Authority because all papers are now on the table and there's nothing left to hide," he said. "They are talking very clearly now. They are accepting Israel and the resolutions that are against Islam. So they cannot have public support any more. "This is the end of Abbas's existence. If he wants to turn his regime into an oppressive one, then this is a different story. This is his choice. He's working according to the US and Israeli agenda. He's not working for the cause of his people, but for the occupier.
Apparently, the PA security forces wanted to "scare the settlers" by murdering one in cold blood....
Palestinian policemen were behind the shooting attack last week which killed Ido Zoldan, a 29 year-old father of two from the settlement of Shavei Shomron, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Sunday night.
Zoldan was killed last Monday night - the day before the Annapolis summit began - when shots were fired at his car as he drove past the Palestinian village of al-Punduk.
The three members of the cell were Palestinian policemen and members of the Palestinian National Security Force, which Israel and the United States have been investing in as part of the international effort to strengthen Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah government.
Defense officials said that the weapon used in the attack was not supplied to the Palestinians by Israel since it did not belong to the official Palestinian security forces. The officials said however that the IDF expected the political echelon to rethink its policy of strengthening Abbas while his policemen were involved in terrorism.
No comments:
Post a Comment