Larger text
Smaller text
Palestinian party Fatah celebrates 48th year with rally, hinting it, Hamas hatred waning
What is Fatah?
• Founded by Yasser Arafat, Fatah was the cornerstone of the Palestinian national cause.
•Under Arafat's leadership, the party promoted an armed struggle against Israel to establish a Palestinian state. But it later recognized Israel's right to exist, and its leaders have led peace talks aimed at reaching a two-state solution.
•Since Arafat's death in 2004, Fatah fell from dominance and, in 2006, lost parliamentary elections to the Islamist movement Hamas. In June 2007, Fatah was driven out of the Gaza Strip in violent clashes between the two factions.
Source: BBC
Daily Photo Galleries
By The Washington Post
Published: Friday, January 4, 2013, 7:42 p.m.
Updated: Friday, January 4, 2013
JERUSALEM — The Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas held a rally in Gaza on Friday to mark the 48th anniversary of its founding — the first such gathering permitted by Hamas since it seized control of the territory in a brief civil war in 2007.
“We feel like birds freed from our cage today,” said Fadwa Taleb, 46, who worked as a police officer for Fatah before the Hamas takeover and attended the rally with her family. “We are happy and feel powerful again.”
The rally was another sign of thawing relations between the factions since November, when Israel began a military offensive to halt rocket fire from Gaza and Abbas won limited recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.
Hamas has enjoyed a surge of popularity among Palestinians because it was able to fire rockets deep into Israel during the recent conflict. Fatah has been buoyed by the U.N.'s statehood vote, spurring renewed moves to carry out a stalled reconciliation accord signed by the factions in 2011.
Hamas granted permission for the Fatah rally in Gaza because it was allowed to hold two rallies last month in the West Bank, parts of which are controlled by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority. Since their split, each faction had banned public gatherings by its rival.
On Friday, tens of thousands of people, many waving yellow Fatah banners, gathered in Saraya Square in Gaza City in what witnesses described as a carnival atmosphere. Crowds had camped overnight to ensure themselves a spot, and the throng included many families with children.
The jostling crowd surged onto a stage, where Fatah leaders were assembled. The ensuing chaos forced organizers to cut the gathering short after Abbas gave a video address from his headquarters in Ramallah.
Abbas told the crowd that “soon we will regain our unity,” which he called “a step on the way to ending the (Israeli) occupation.”
Most Popular World
- Tunisian security blocks radical Islamists’ conference
- Israel favors interim deal with Palestinians
- Pakistan repeats vote despite killing
- North Korea fires projectile into eastern waters, 4th test in 2 days
- 1969 telegram displayed in Prague invites dreams of super group that never was: Hendrix, Davis, Williams and McCartney
- Brotherhood whips crowd into frenzy at anti-Israel rally
- 2 new viruses could both spark global outbreaks
- Pakistan’s Sharif sends mixed message to U.S.
- Builders destroy Mayan pyramid
- Deadly bomb hits in Benghazi
- Turkey’s support of rebels criticized after blast
You must be signed in to add comments
To comment, click the Sign in or sign up at the very top of this page.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.
