GAZA CITY, 15 September 2005 — Palestinians celebrated Israel’s pullout from Gaza by staging a show of mass unity yesterday but the rally was marred by gunfire toward the end near the ruins of the largest old Jewish settlement.
Land which just a month ago was home to more than 2,000 Israeli citizens was turned into a sea of flags flown by supporters of all the main factions such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad which have hailed the pullout as a great victory.
Aware that the eyes of the world are focused on how the Palestinians manage to govern themselves in Gaza, their President Mahmoud Abbas has vowed to tackle the armed chaos which threatens to undermine the case for statehood.
But the likes of Hamas and Jihad vow never to surrender their weapons until Israel ends decades of occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Despite the initial show of unity, yesterday’s rally in the ruins of Neve Dekalim broke up amid shots fired in the air by demonstrators irate that rap music was being performed live at a celebration of Gaza “liberation.”
During a brief standoff, soldiers fired into the air and escorted the singers out. They were chased by stone-throwing youths, followed by more police officers who fired into the air for 10 to 15 minutes.
Although Abbas kept away from the rally, a speech on his behalf was delivered by Palestinian Authority Secretary-General Tayeb Abdelrahim who called for an end to the armed chaos for the good of everyone.
“People deserve a life of peace and security. We confirm that dialogue between all factions is the only way ahead. Everyone wants security and the law,” he said.
Leaders of the factions, such as Hamas chief Mahmoud Zahar, attended the rally but agreed to a joint statement read out by Ibrahim Abu Najar, the head of an umbrella organization representing all of the nationalist and Islamic movements.
He stressed that all were united in the struggle until “the Palestinian people’s rights are granted, they release our prisoners, we become a state and we liberate Jerusalem. This is what unites us and we all agree with this.”
With Zahar sitting next to him, Abdelrahim said: “The settlements cannot stay forever. That’s a fact... The West Bank and Jerusalem are calling for us.”
Zahar told reporters that the pullout, the first time Israel has withdrawn Jews from Palestinian land, was only thanks to his hard-line faction’s attacks against Israel.
“Those who are standing on this land now, should know it is because of our weapons and the resistance of Hamas and the blood of our martyrs,” said Zahar.
He also reiterated that there was no chance of his movement surrendering its weapons, regardless of the appeals of Abbas for people to respect a single armed authority.
“We said to Abu Mazen (Abbas) we will not allow him to confiscate a single weapon from the resistance,” he said.
The helplessness of the security forces in the face of militants was earlier highlighted at the Rafah border where hundreds of people continued to scramble into Egypt from Gaza despite efforts by the authorities to seal the crossing.
Witnesses said Hamas members blew a gaping hole in one concrete slab, allowing people to scramble across the border with ease.
Egyptian forces also discovered a tunnel filled with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, machine guns and RPGs on the border, an official said.
Under pressure from Israel, both Egypt and the Palestinians promised that the situation would be brought under control.
— With input from agencies
