Palestinian Authority bans anti-Abbas protests, Hamas cries foul

PA security forces quashed demonstrations criticizing President Mahmoud Abbas and his policies on the Gaza Strip until the end of Ramadan.

By: World Israel News Stafff

The Palestinian Authority (PA) reportedly banned protests of its unelected president, Mahmoud Abbas, which were scheduled to take place Wednesday evening. According to the PA, it feared the demonstrations would conflict with holiday celebrations related to the end of the month-long Ramadan fast period.

The announcement regarding the ban on protests was made on Wednesday via the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

Previously, the Palestinian cabinet met to condemn Sunday and Tuesday’s demonstrations, which targeted Abbas’ punitive approach to the Hamas terrorist group’s government in the Gaza Strip. Disregarding the ban, the protest organizers announced they would demonstrated anyway on Wednesday night in Ramallah as planned, Haaretz reported.

The organizers also complained of intimidation, threats and stigmatization as “agitators.”

While previous protests focused on Israel, the PA’s sanctions on Gaza are increasingly scrutinized within Palestinian circles.

Abbas’ Fatah party remains a bitter rival of the Hamas terror group, which wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas’ faction in a bloody coup in 2007.