[Marxism] Armed Fatah force attack in West Bank, sieze parliament building

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It is important to have in mind that the fighting in Gaza began as a Fatah
attack, including an invasion of Fatah armed forces based in Egypt.
Fred Feldman


June 16, 2007
Fatah Gunmen Storm West Bank Buildings 
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:22 a.m. ET

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Hundreds of Fatah gunmen on Saturday stormed
Hamas-controlled institutions in the West Bank, including parliament and
government ministries, and told staffers that those with ties to Hamas will
not be allowed to return.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with the U.S.
consul-general in Jerusalem, his office said. The meeting between Abbas and
Jacob Walles took place at Abbas' headquarters in Ramallah hours before
Abbas was expected to swear in an emergency government.

Abbas had dismantled the Hamas-Fatah coalition, fired Prime Minister Ismail
Haniyeh and appointed Finance Minister Salam Fayyad in his place after Hamas
took control of Gaza by force.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Ahmed Bahar of Hamas said Saturday that any
government that does not win parliament approval is to be considered
unconstitutional. Hamas has a majority in parliament, but the legislature
stopped operating months ago after Israel arrested most of the Hamas
members.

At the parliament, the Fatah supporters chanted, ''Hamas Out,'' climbed on
the roof of the building and fired in the air. They planted Fatah and
Palestinian flags on the building, and also tried to seize the deputy
speaker but were stopped by employees.

Many government employees tied to Hamas had not showed up for work on
Saturday, the start of the work week in the West Bank, after Hamas took
control of Gaza in a military campaign. Apparently, the staffers feared
reprisals.

A member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Fatah, said
his group planned to take control of all Hamas institutions, in response to
Hamas' takeover of Gaza.

At the parliament building, Fatah gunmen entered the office of Deputy
Speaker Hassan Kreisheh and tried to grab him, but Fatah employees stopped
them. Other Fatah activists took over the Education Ministry and the prime
minister's office.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, Fatah gunmen took over the Hamas-controlled
city council and planted the Fatah flag on the top of the building. Fatah
supporters also kidnapped seven Hamas supporters, and deposed a senior
member of the Religious Affairs Ministry.

And in the West Bank city of Hebron, Fatah gunmen took over offices of the
Education Ministry and the Interior Ministry, warning Hamas-allied employees
not to return to work, Al Aqsa members said.

Also Saturday, hundreds of Palestinians looted Palestinian police positions
at the Erez crossing into Israel, drawing Israeli warning fire, witnesses
said.

The looters walked off with scrap metal and furniture. The Israeli army said
it was checking the report of shooting at the crossing, which has largely
been closed for the past week.

Since the fall of Gaza to Hamas, Israel has permitted some senior Fatah
officials to pass through Erez, via Israel, to the West Bank.

Meanwhile, a crowd looted the home of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat,
destroying one of the strongest symbols of the Fatah movement in the Gaza
Strip, witnesses and Fatah officials said.

Fatah officials said the crowd took furniture, wall tiles and Arafat's
personal belongings.

The villa had been empty since Arafat left for the West Bank in 2001 shortly
after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising. Israel confined
Arafat to the West Bank until permitting him to fly to France for medical
care in late 2004. He died in France several weeks later.

Arafat, Fatah's founder, led the Palestinians for four decades before his
death.






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