Saturday, November 17, 2007

"Some witnesses say that Fatah partly provoked the violence. Soma Abu Aisha, 40, a Fatah supporter who was at the rally, said that what first angered the police was the removal of a Hamas flag from the top of a mosque minaret and its replacement with four Fatah flags. Also, she said that there was “shooting in the air from Al Azhar,” the university affiliated with Fatah, and that “once they shot, Hamas responded, then Fatah shot toward the Islamic University,” which is affiliated with Hamas. But many Gazans said they were shocked by the reaction of the Hamas policemen, which included the indiscriminate use of live fire to disperse the crowd."