Even as they reportedly reached an accord to ease their simmering tensions, Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat and officials with the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas movement continued to vie for support among Palestinians this week.
The two sides blamed each other for the outbreak of violence in the Gaza Strip last Friday that left 14 Palestinians dead and about 250 others wounded. The violence was sparked by clashed between Palestinian police and fundamentalists who had gathered outside Gaza City’s main mosque.
But Hamas reportedly has said it will not formally sign the accord until Arafat assumes full responsibility for last Friday’s violence.
According to the agreement, the Palestine Authority will establish two committees to determine responsibility for the violence. Separate committees will also be created to reduce tension in Gaza.
In an unprecedented move, Israeli Arab politicians arrived in Gaza on Saturday to act as mediators between the two sides in an effort to broker the accord.
On Monday, some 10,000 supporters gathered in a sports stadium in Gaza City to show their solidarity with Arafat. Many in the crowd were armed, and they fired their weapons into the air during the gathering to demonstrate their backing of Arafat.
It was reportedly the largest show support Arafat received since he arrived in Gaza in July to assume the leadership of the Palestinian autonomy.
Speaking at the rally, Arafat blamed Hamas for starting last Friday’s rioting.
Referring to Iran, which back Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad movement, Arafat said that the clashes had been instituted by “outside element.”
He also had strong words for those who oppose the Palestinian Authority, saying “We will not allow anybody to sow disorder and we will not allow anyone to destroy what we have built.”
Hamas which continues to blame Arafat and the Palestinian police for last Friday’s events, meanwhile distributed leaflets in Gaza vowing to attack members of the Palestinian Authority and launch a civil war unless Arafat tried and executed those who were responsible for the violence.
Pro-Hamas demonstration were held in the territories Monday, but they proceeded without incident, and few people observed a general strike called by Hamas.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
