Ref: 37/2006

Date:  23 April 2006

Time: 11:00 GMT 

Following Clashes and Tension between Fatah and Hamas, PCHR Calls for Use of Dialogue and the Law

PCHR welcomes the agreement brokered by Egypt between Fatah and Hamas last night to end tensions between the two sides and put a stop to violence seen mainly in Gaza City, which resulted in dozens injured yesterday.  PCHR calls upon the two sides to use dialogue and legal remedies in resolving Palestinian internal differences. 

Clashes broke out on Saturday, 23 April 2006, between hundreds of students from al-Azhar University and the Islamic University, which are located close to each other in the west of Gaza City.  The clashes began following statements by the Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Khaled Mash’al, in Damascus on Friday, in which he accused Palestinian parties of working to undermine the Hamas-led government. 

These statements were made in the context of increasing differences between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) government and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, centred on disputes over authority.  These differences peaked when President Mahmoud ‘Abbas issued a decree abolishing a decision taken by the Minister of Interior Sa’id Siam on Thursday, 20 April 2006, to form a special security force to support the police.  The announcement came in the context of efforts being made by the government to end the state of security chaos in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). 

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, the clashes broke out first at the campus of the Islamic University at 12:30, when members of the Fatah Student Youth Movement put up a poster attacking Khaled Mash’al.  Members of Hamas tore down the poster and clashes erupted between the two sides.  The clashes escalated and soon involved large numbers of students from al-Azhar University, whose student council is controlled by the Fatah Student Youth Movement, and students from the Islamic University, whose student council is controlled by Hamas members.  The two sides threw stones and empty bottles at each other.  Some students even used home made grenades and supporters of the two sides fired guns into the air. 

The clashes continued until the evening and the two sides were reinforced by supporters from outside the university.  During the clashes, 33 students were wounded (6 were injured by shrapnel from home made grenades; 4 suffered from tear gas inhalation used by the police to disperse the students; and the remaining students were hit by stones).  According to medical sources, two of the wounded were in a serious condition:

1)      Khalil Hamad, 20, from Beit Hanoun,; and

2)      Waleed Khaled Abu ‘Eita, 20, from Gaza City, both wounded by shrapnel to the head and throughout the body. 

Buildings belonging to the two universities were also damaged.  Following the clashes, the administrations of the two universities decided to suspend lectures for three days, in an attempt to decrease tension and protect their property.  Lectures at the two universities will be resumed on Tuesday, 25 April 2006. 

At approximately 21:00 on the same day, hundreds of Fatah supporters demonstrated in Gaza City in protest to Mash’al’s statements.  The demonstrators moved from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the north of Gaza City towards the Palestinian Legislative Council.  The demonstrators moved into the yard and opened fire into the air.  A number of demonstrators climbed to the roof of the Council and threw home made grenades.  The demonstrators then moved towards the Palestinian presidential compound in the city.  No clashes or casualties were reported. 

At approximately 12:00, also on Saturday, at least 15 armed members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated to Fatah, broke into the Palestinian court compound in Nablus, demanding that the Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas apologize for what they considered to be an insult to the Palestinian president and the Fatah movement.  They forced staff members to leave the building and closed it.  They demanded its closure until Mash’al apologized to the Palestinian president. 

Last night, at the end of a meeting in Gaza City brokered by the Egyptian government, Fatah and Hamas agreed to end the tension and form a permanent bilateral dialogue committee to consider all new issues. 

PCHR welcomes the agreement:

1)      PCHR follows with utmost concern the increasing differences between the PNA presidency and premiership over authorities. 

2)      PCHR reminds that such differences are not new, as they existed before Hamas won the majority in the last Palestinian legislative elections, and even when President Mahmoud ‘Abaas himself held the position of prime minister in 2003. 

3)      PCHR asserts that legal and constitutional differences are legitimate as long as they are dealt with within the framework of quiet and responsible dialogue, which serves the interests of the Palestinian people, rather than resolving them through violent means.  

4)      PCHR calls for use of dialogue and the law in resolving all constitutional problems between the Palestinian presidency and premiership, through referring to the Higher Constitutional Court (whose authorities are temporarily assigned to the High Court of Justice), which has the power, among other things, to interpret provisions of the Basic Law and other laws, according to the amended Basic Law of 2003. 

5)      PCHR emphasizes that the various establishments of the political regime are not islands isolated from one another, rather they must complement one another in a way that serves the interests of the Palestinian people.     

-End-