Scattered violence and at least one death were reported Monday, as Palestinians marched and demonstrated to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Al Fatah, the fighting arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by Yasir Arafat.
Fatah has been competing this past year with the Islamic fundamentalist movement Hamas for the loyalty of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Leaflet No. 50 of the Palestinian uprising’s Unified Command instructed the population to parade and wave flags on the occasion. But the Israel Defense Force sent in reinforcements to prevent unrest. The entire Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank were put under curfew.
The single reported fatality occurred when IDF troops opened fire to disperse a nationalist parade.
The victim was identified as Ala a-Din Bader el-Khatib, 16, a resident of A-Ram, an Arab neighborhood in northern Jerusalem.
At least 21 Palestinians were killed last month, according to B’Tselem, a human rights organization that monitors events in the territories.
Nineteen of them were shot by the IDF, one died when an explosive charge detonated and another was apparently beaten to death by agents of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service.
Another 12 Palestinians were killed by fellow Arabs for allegedly collaborating with the Israeli authorities.
B’Tselem reported that about 607 Arabs have been killed by Israeli security forces since the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, began in December 1987, and another 28 were apparently killed by Israeli civilians.
In addition, 166 suspected alleged collaborators have been murdered.
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