Ahead of Nakba Day, Palestinians take measures to avoid confrontation with Israel
Hamas is pitching in to prevent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Authority is working hard to ensure that protests will be confined to Palestinian cities and won't assume a violent character.
By Avi Issacharoff
The political storm that swept across the country this week obscured the huge dramas that are continuing to roll across the Middle East. The Arab Spring refuses to end. This week, too, the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad continued to kill civilians and opposition activists who are trying to drive out the regime. In Egypt, preparations for the presidential election, which will take place on May 23 and 24 (with a possible run-off in June) are at their height. At the same time, many fear that the Supreme Military Council will try to postpone the elections at the last minute. Amid all the unrest, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are emerging as islands of political and security stability. The question, of course, is how long that situation will last.
Next week, on May 14, the Palestinians will mark Nakba Day, recalling what they refer to as the "catastrophe" of 1948: Israel's establishment and the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their land. The day's events will dovetail with the ongoing hunger strike of about 2,000 security prisoners in Israeli jails - which could make for a volatile mix. Still, this week the leaders of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority worked hard to ensure that the demonstrations will be confined to the Palestinian cities of the West Bank and will not assume a violent character. Even the tournament that Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Football Association, is planning for Nakba Day will be held in West Bank cities.
"My legacy? I have one thing, security," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday in an interview with Reuters. "Ask anyone if we are going to the third intifada. They will say no, they want peace. That has never happened before. People realized that through peaceful means we can achieve our goals."
In the past, declarations of that sort drew harsh condemnations from Hamas, as did comments related to cooperation with Israel and to measures taken by the PA against armed and wanted Palestinians. But at a time when the head of Hamas' political bureau, Khaled Meshal, is making it clear that the organization will focus on nonviolent public activities, it's hard to see how the Islamic movement can criticize Abbas, even implicitly.
in full: http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/ahead-of-nakba-day-palestinians-take-measures-to-avoid-confrontation-with-israel-1.429682
= new reply since forum marked as read
Forgery my ass!
...is nothing more than the peace of the grave.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/11343829#post90
Since all that's in Arabic, it's as though it doesn't count.
Imagine Netanyahu getting away with the same if only that same type of incitement were in hebrew. It's as if that wouldn't exist either....
Maybe bringing the subject up would be bigoted incitement, as it is when PMW brings it up WRT Abbas.
Perhaps Netanyahu wouldn't be held accountable if that were happening in reverse. Abbas isn't.