Palestinians' pullout celebration ends in disorder
Wed Sep 14, 2005 7:37 PM BST
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Gunmen firing in the air disrupted a Palestinian Authority rally celebrating Israel's pullout from Gaza and the gathering ended in chaos on Wednesday when traditional Muslims stoned the stage in protest.
Abbas, struggling to impose order to win backing for Palestinian statehood, cancelled plans to address the rally, reflecting concern about militant rivals within his fractured Fatah movement and opposition Islamists led by Hamas.
A speech by an Abbas aide calling for an end to armed chaos was marred by Fatah gunmen parading across the stage and firing assault rifles in the air. This prompted Hamas activists to walk out from what had been billed as a show of Palestinian unity.
The rally ended in disorder when devoutly Muslim refugees dominating the crowd of several thousand stoned the stage in protest at a rap music band's failure to stick to nationalist songs. The performers fled, gunmen firing over their heads.
Palestinian security forces took charge in abandoned Jewish settlements earlier in the day, ending looting and destruction following Monday's withdrawal. But the messy rally suggested they had a way to go to rein in lawlessness.
"I say to you in the name of the president that we (Palestinian factions) have no way other than dialogue. Our cause is one," Abbas aide Tayeb Abdel-Rahim told the gathering.
"You have a right to be happy at the removal of the ugly colonial occupation in Gaza. But the march is long and our happiness will not be complete before the liberation of the West Bank and Jerusalem too," he said.
While dumping the small Gaza Strip, Israel vows never to cede swathes of the West Bank where it is expanding much larger settlements, or Arab East Jerusalem. Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.
Abbas says Israeli policy in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is making it harder for him to subdue militant groups so as to embark on a U.S.-backed negotiations for a state.
CHAOS EASES IN SETTLEMENTS, NOT BORDER
Earlier on Wednesday, Palestinian security forces took charge in much of Gaza's former Gush Katif settlement bloc, ending widespread looting and destruction of abandoned Israeli synagogues and greenhouses.
But they struggled to halt uncontrolled travel over the border with Egypt prompted by Israel's pullout. Hamas gunmen blasted a hole in a segment of the frontier wall and waiting Palestinians rushed through before police arrived.
Some travellers continued to evade stepped-up security measures on both sides and a promise by police on both sides to seal the border by 1500 GMT (4 p.m. British time) did not pan out as Palestinians continued to flow unchecked into Egypt afterwards.
After nightfall, a small contingent of Egyptian riot police arrived and fired warning shots in efforts to turn back crowds trying to barge over border fences, witnesses said.
Israel protested at the border chaos, saying militants opposed to peacemaking could exploit it to smuggle in weaponry.
Abbas has implored Palestinians to end internal chaos and start rebuilding to show the world they deserve a future state.
Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz demanded an effective crackdown. "We have passed very very explicit warnings to the Palestinians, and messages to the Egyptians and Americans, that Israel will not resign itself to this situation," he said.
"The Palestinian Authority must rouse itself and do what is required of it forthwith to bring law and order... Otherwise progress with the Palestinians will not be possible in the future," he said on Israel Army Radio.
Abbas's biggest challenge in Gaza will be subduing militant factions and motley armed gangs, many of them affiliated with his fractured Fatah movement. They refuse to disarm, but Abbas hopes to co-opt them with security and public service jobs.
(Writing by Mark Heinrich in Jerusalem, additional reporting by Tom Perry in Egypt-Gaza border; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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