Palestinians take to the streets again to demand Abbas' resignation
Hundreds of Palestinians returned to the streets of the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday to demonstrate against the "assassination" of a dissident in protests in which they again called for the resignation of President Mahmoud Abbas, after a break due to a crackdown by security forces.
The UN and the EU representation in the territories had warned the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to allow "freedom of expression" after police and Abbas loyalists attacked protesters, especially women, followed by a campaign of online harassment with the publication of personal details of mobile phones they stole.
The mother of Nizar Banat, an opposition and independent candidate in the suspended elections who died in the custody of security forces on 25 June, and his brother Gasan, who holds the PNA responsible for his "murder", were greeted with applause by the demonstrators and led the protest march through the centre of Ramallah.
"We are all Nizar Banat", the demonstrators shouted as they charged at the Palestinian authorities whom they accused of "corruption" and "collaboration with Israel": "Go away Abbas" and "The people want the fall of the regime" were again heard in the streets.
"We raise our voices against the assassination, to call for a halt to the PNA and for Abbas to leave," a young demonstrator told Efe, who came from Hebron, where Banat died after he was arrested and beaten in a house in that city where he was protecting himself from death threats.
The demonstration was notable for the presence of women, mostly young women, who have been particularly attacked during the demonstrations that followed Banat's death and who have denounced harassment by young supporters of Fatah, Abbas' nationalist party.
In parallel to the protest in Ramallah, Fatah, which controls the PNA and governs much of the West Bank, mobilised its supporters in Hebron, where party flags were waved.
The party has gone so far as to mobilise its armed militias with street marches as a show of force and intimidation of activists and civil society.
