Palestinians show solidarity with Abbas

Hamas activists protest against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his government following a recent broadcast by Al-Jazeera reportedly linking him to making broad concessions to Israel in peace talks, in the Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, on Friday. (AP)

By MOHAMMED MAR'I | ARAB NEWS

RAMALLAH: Thousands of Palestinians rallied in the West Bank cities Al-Beireh on Friday in support of President Mahmoud Abbas and against Al-Jazeera network for publishing confidential papers detailing concessions made during peace talks with Israel.

In AL-Beireh, thousands of Palestinians took the street after holding Friday prayers at Jamal Abdulnasser Mosque in support of Abbas and to protest the station. Abbas held the Friday prayer in the same mosque.

"With blood, with soul, we sacrifice to you (Abbas). We will go to Jerusalem, a million martyrs strong," the crowd chanted. The demonstrators waved signs reading "Al-Jazeera is Zionist" and "Al-Jazeera and Israel are two sides of the same coin." Others burned a Jewish flag with Al-Jazeera's logo on it

In Hebron, thousands of Fatah supporters gathered in the city's center in a rally designed to show support for Abbas. The participants waved Fatah and Palestine flags.

They also burned images of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Al-Jazeera Director General Waddah Khanfar and Al-Jazeera anchor Ahmad Mansour. Khanfar is a Palestinian national.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian community in the United States issued a statement calling on Abbas and senior Palestine Liberation Organization members to resign over the "selling of Palestinian rights to Israel."

The documents, leaked Sunday, reveal that Palestinian negotiators have been willing to give Israel control over Jewish areas of the Old City; let Israel annex areas of East Jerusalem claimed by Palestinians as part of their future capital; and severely limit the number of Palestinian refugees allowed to return.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Sa’eb Erekat said US citizen Clayton Swisher who worked for the US Foreign Office and who now works at Al-Jazeera, and Alastair Crooke, a British citizen who once served as the EU's security coordinator on the settlements are responsible for the leak.

On Thursday, a senior Palestinian official on Thursday said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will sue Al-Jazeera satellite TV for leaking the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation documents.

Khalil Karajeh, the Deputy Justice Minister, said in a press statement that his ministry "started contacts and preparations with different levels and law experts the possibility of filing a case against Al-Jazeera for distorting its image, positions and symbols."

Karajeh said the Palestinians are also considering demanding the extradition of the Khanfar, to investigate him on the leaked documents.

Comments

FIL MUNAS

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This alleged "support" for Abbas is either phony or ridiculous. Would the brave Palestinians support a dastardly man who sold his own people down the river?

ABU ASHRAF MUNAWAAR

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It is definitly stagemanged by petrodollars sent from the regimes that might be at risk of unmasked by Al Jazeera. The Arab lands are full of puppets serving the zionist alliance. Al Jazeera or WikiLeaks will not be liked by them naturally !

ROB

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I find the Arab mind very confusing. the Palestinians and the Israelis negotiate to try to create a Palestinian state. They agree on almost everything, except they get hung up over whether Israel can keep some settlements (6% of West Bank territory), in return for swapping an equal amount of Israeli land. But both sides make great compromises to their ideals to try to allow the Palestinians to build their own state. Al Jazeera supposedly spills the beans (even though most of this was known for years by anyone who could read the New York Times). Now here is the part I don't understand -- how could people come out in the streets supporting Abbas for engaging in these negotiations with Israel -- and at the same time undermine what he was doing by spewing hatred at Israel and coupling it with Al Jazeera, who are clearly against these negotiations? Do they want peace, or do they just wish to be perpetually angry?

ABDULLAH

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They are either paid protesters, or they're just simply stupid.

UMAR

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It is a great truth that says that the worst blind person was the one who did not want to see...
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