PA “Security” Uses Force to End Anti-Direct Talks Meeting in Ramallah

by Umayyah Jiha

Al Manar

26/08/2010 Palestinian Authority security forces on Wednesday used force to prevent dozens of Palestinians in Ramallah from voicing their opposition to the US-sponsored direct talks with Israel.

PA security agents and policemen who stormed the building, where a press conference was supposed to be held, first turned off the lights and then beat some of the participants.
 
The incident indicated to growing tensions among Palestinians in light of the PA leadership’s decision to abandon its previous conditions for conducting direct negotiations with Israel.
 
Many Palestinian factions have strongly condemned the PA leadership for “succumbing” to US and Israeli pressure by agreeing to negotiate with Israel unconditionally.
 
Following the incident, PA President Mahmoud Abbas decided to establish a special commission of inquiry.
 
Wednesday’s press conference was organized by the National Conference Against Direct Talks, a coalition consisting of hundreds of political factions, organizations, institutions and figures from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The event was supposed to be held simultaneously in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through video conference.
 
Legislator Khaledah Jarrar, a representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and one of the organizers of the gathering, said that despite the ban, the organizers were planning to hold another conference to voice their strong opposition to the PA’s decision to negotiate with Israel unconditionally.
 
Adnan Damiri, spokesman for the PA security forces in the West Bank, denied that his men had prevented the organizers from holding their conference. However, he admitted that the police broke up an “illegal march” in the center of Ramallah.
 
Muhsen Abu Ramadan, one of the organizers, warned that the Palestinians would never achieve their rights and aspirations “by constantly capitulating to American and Israeli pressure.” He said that the conference was now planning a series of popular protests throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip against the PA’s decision.

Source: Agencies

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