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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Palestinian workers storm parliament |
| 2006-06-14 |
| I'd hate to be a janitor at Palestinian Parliment for the last few days... RAMALLAH, West Bank - Dozens of Palestinian civil servants stormed parliament Wednesday to demand long-overdue salaries, pelting Hamas lawmakers with water bottles and forcing the parliament speaker to flee the building. Water bottles? Well it could've been worse... The second attack on the parliament this week, along with the shooting death of a Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip, cast doubt on renewed efforts by leaders of the rival Fatah and Hamas parties to halt their increasingly deadly infighting. In Ramallah, hundreds of government workers demonstrated outside the parliament building, chanting anti-government slogans and demanding their wages. As the chanting grew louder, several dozen protesters burst into the building and pelted Hamas lawmakers with water bottles, tissue boxes and other small items. Must be saving their ammo for the big show. "We are hungry. We are hungry," the protesters screamed. "Haniyeh, go home!" During the melee, some demonstrators climbed onto lawmakers' desks. At one point, security guards broke up a scuffle between two female lawmakers. No injuries were reported. Catfight! Catfight! Parliament speaker Abdel Aziz Duaik, a top Hamas official, fled the hall under heavy guard shortly before the crowd burst in. "I'm not coming back until they leave," Duaik said as he rushed out. Is that the proper response listed in the Brave Jihadi Handbook? Order was restored after about 45 minutes, and the session resumed. Most of the demonstrators were thought to be Fatah activists. Later Wednesday, several hundred Hamas supporters marched peacefully in Ramallah to condemn attacks on government buildings. "We ask, whose interests are you serving through these actions, burning down our institutions?" Hamas leader Farhat Assad asked in a speech. "It is uglier than the practices of the Israeli occupation." Soon to be known as the good old days. Earlier this week, hundreds of pro-Fatah security personnel went on a rampage in Ramallah, shooting and burning the parliament and Cabinet buildings in a rage against the Hamas-led government. The power struggle, which has spilled over into factional fighting, has centered on control of the powerful, Fatah-dominated security forces. In fighting Wednesday, a Hamas gunman was killed in the southern Gaza Strip shortly after Hamas militants attacked the local commander of one of the Palestinian security agencies. The commander was shot in the legs seven times and moderately wounded. After the Hamas militant was killed, the group attacked the commander's home and set it on fire. Hamas activists pulled the commander's family out of the building before it was torched. In their meeting in Gaza City, Abbas, Haniyeh and senior security officials discussed ways to end the violence. "We deplore and regret these incidents," Haniyeh said. "We all are concerned and interested in stopping this deterioration. The government is going to carry out its responsibilities along with the security branches in order to maintain law and order." Participants said Wednesday's talks focused on Hamas' controversial private militia. Hamas deployed the 3,000-member force last month, setting off weeks of bloodshed. Abbas has demanded the force be disbanded. Haniyeh said Abbas had agreed to incorporate the militia into the regular police force in Gaza. But he declined to say when this might take place. Hamas has twice pledged to remove the militia out of public places, but it remains in position. Great. More disgruntled, unpaid government employees. With guns. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |