Freedom of assembly, Palestinian-style

Last Wednesday in Ramallah there was a protest against Mahmoud Abbas' sanctions on Gaza that was violently suppressed by hundreds, maybe thousands of Fatah members and PA security forces:

 Palestinian security forces used sound grenades, tear gas and violent force to disperse an anti-government protest in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday night, as hundreds demonstrated against the Palestinian Authority's punitive measures against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Crowds of protesters in Ramallah chanted and hoisted signs calling for an end to PA sanctions against Gaza before they were quickly cut off as Palestinian National Security Forces threw sound grenades and fired tear gas into the crowd.

Security forces in riot gear also wielded batons and used Taser weapons against protesters, with dozens of people carried away and arrested.

Police yelled at everyone in the street to put their phones away and told them not to take photos – journalists included.

Many of those who did take photos were arrested or at least detained briefly by swarms of police officers who attempted to break or confiscate cameras and erase memory cards.

Those who were arrested, at least 50 as of midnight including two foreign journalists, were carried away by police while being beaten with batons, punched and kicked.

Young girls and women were among those who this reporter saw being carried away, screaming and struggling.

About 10 people were taken to hospital, where they had their identification documents confiscated by police.

In Gaza on Monday, Fatah members and others made their own demonstration, ostensibly for Palestinian unity. - and Hamas violently broke that up:

At the start of the event called for by the Committee of Prisoners and Liberators, with the participation of a number of factions, writers, dignitaries and liberated prisoners, about 100 people in civilian clothes dressed in kuffiyehs and white hats went in the midst of the demonstrators and began chanting "Down with Abbas."  Among the organizers, They attacked the participants with sticks, throwing stones and then sabotaging the stage.

The [Independent Human Rights] Commission documented that members of the General Intelligence and Homeland Security pursued and attacked a number of citizens and journalists, which indicates that these attacks were carried out with the knowledge and protection of the security services in the Gaza Strip, which is contrary to the role entrusted to the security services to protect the participants in the assembly.

 Just another week with the peaceful Palestinian leadership in Ramallah and Gaza suppressing any protests - and any reporting of the protests when they can.

Outside Haaretz and a couple of other Israeli media, the PA violence has not been reported. The Hamas violence has been roundly ignored. 

Because when Israel (Jews) aren't involved, then it must not be very important.

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