GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, Nov. 27, 2007
Palestinians Rally Against "Doomed" Summit
Thousands Join Hamas To Decry Annapolis Conference; At Least 1 Killed By Police
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A Palestinian man waves his national flag during a rally in Gaza City, Nov. 27, 2007. Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters poured into central Gaza City Tuesday for a rally to reject a key Middle East peace conference in the United States. (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)
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A shopper in Gaza City, Nov. 25, 2007, looks over a sales display of mugs made to commemorate the Mideast peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland, with portraits of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. (AP)
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Play CBS Video Video Palestine On The Table President Bush will attempt to negotiate a peace agreement between Palestine and Israel at a leaders' summit in Annapolis, Md. Bill Plante reports.
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Video Middle East Summit To Begin A critical summit meeting regarding peace in the Middle East is to begin in Maryland. Joie Chen reports on the preparations, including President Bush's private meetings with key figures.
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Video An Effort For Mideast Peace In an effort to bring peace to the middle east, the State Department has begun sending out invitations to its upcoming peace conference. CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pam Falk weighs in.
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Interactive Mideast Conflict Events, key players and a history of the world's most unstable region.
The comments by Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Hamas government in Gaza, came as protesters began filling a huge square in Gaza City, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," and calling Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a "collaborator" for attending the gathering in Annapolis, Md.
Hamas sympathizers in the West Bank demonstrating against the peace talks were confronted and attacked by Palestinian security forces loyal to President Abbas, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.
But the very forces charged with keeping law and order are breaking the law every day.
Amnesty International has documented over 1,000 cases of illegal arrest and torture by Fatah forces, adds
Today, forces loyal to Abbas killed one protester, medical officials said. Several people were seriously injured.
The Liberation Party, a tiny Islamic group, said Hisham Baradiyeh, a 36-year-old member of the group, was shot in the chest. The group calls for the establishment of a pan-Muslim state through peaceful means.
Palestinian government officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
In other violence, Israeli troops fatally shot two Hamas militants in separate incidents early Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, the army and Islamic group said. On Monday, four Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in Gaza.
"Annapolis is a disaster for us," said Amina Hasanat, a 37-year-old mother of eight who demonstrated in Gaza City. Dressed in a black robe and a headband bearing the Hamas colors of black and green, she predicted the conference would end in failure. "This will be an advantage for the resistance," she said.
Gaza's Hamas rulers have been staging daily demonstrations against the U.S.-hosted conference, restating their commitment to Israel's destruction and promising to reject any decisions that come out of Annapolis. The criticism has grown increasingly vitriolic, with one Hamas leader on Monday calling Abbas a "traitor."
Polls show that a majority of both Palestinians and Israelis favor a negotiated settlement to the conflict. However, a majority on each side is also skeptical that the current peace push will bear fruit.
Hamas violently seized control of Gaza in June after routing forces loyal to Abbas, and his lack of control of Gaza has raised questions about his ability to carry out a future peace deal. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he will not implement a peace agreement without a halt to militant attacks emanating from Gaza.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Olmert noted that the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan calls on the Palestinians to disarm militants. "We will not be able to accept the fact that they (the Palestinians) will be relieved of the obligation to prevent terrorism from the Gaza Strip," he said.
In his speech, Haniyeh, said his group would not disarm.
(MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)
Haniyeh also expressed dismay over the participation of 16 Arab nations - including Saudi Arabia and Syria, a key Hamas patron, at the U.S. summit.
He said the Arab masses "will reject ... any concessions to the Zionist enemy."
"We are sure that the Annapolis conference will not change the reality of history and geography," he added. "Any conference that goes beyond this reality is doomed to failure."
After Haniyeh's speech, the Gaza protest gained strength, beginning with several thousand pro-Hamas university students and quickly growing into tens of thousands of people. Smaller militant groups, including Islamic Jihad, also took part.
"Today you are here to send a message to those who say the land of Palestine is not for sale," said Mahmoud Zahar, a fiery Hamas leader. "Whoever thinks we will recognize a Jewish state ... are deluding themselves. There will be no recognition of the state of Israel."
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Despite the harsh language, the gathering was more subdued than past Hamas rallies. Many demonstrators milled about and appeared uninterested during the speeches.We will stand firmly in the face of policies that attack the will of our people, our factions and our weapons of resistance.
Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader in GazaChildren played or enjoyed ice cream, and women chatted with each other. Unlike other Hamas rallies, there were no public displays of weapons, although protest organizers tried to energize the crowd by playing recordings of gunfire.
In related developments:
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 96 CommentsSo much for the gap. The new generation is wide awake and watching. The DOS is out; Windows has come in, now Vista, the new OS and more on the rails.
What we have is 200 compared to 2007. Seven years is a VERY BIG HOLE FOR ANY Change and that for better after the Israel guns were silenced by Hezbollah?? Sir we still seem to be living in the history. Please excuse my keyboard. The OS is Vista but the key board jumps from the Arabic to the UK or USA. You see what I mean. And you reading this would note the few skips in the key strokes and blame me for my typos.
Daily thing is improve from the past. Here in this zone it is from 2950s that the zone is frozen land, nothing moves toward better Middle East
I thank you
Firozali A.Mulla MBA PhD
P.O.Box 6044
Dar-Es-Salaam
Tanzania
--- Our "Decider" has armed over 70.000 Sunni Arabs & Sunni Iraqi''s, over 45,000 on US payroll ,,
,, They have all openly say & still say they will destroy the centirialized Sheiite government
Posted by j-whitman at 11:13 PM : Nov 27, 2007
+ report abuse
*****
is that what you prefer than what you have now?
Posted by j-whitman at 11:13 PM : Nov 27, 2007
I see Iran running things myself. Again, I gotta go.
,,, But let''s face it, there''s alot of damage Bush can do to our country in a year bro & you should be able to recognize waht''s already in your face. --- When it''s over & settled it will be under Islamic Law with Sunni''s in charge. ----- Same as it was before
Live Long and Prosper.
Yes, you told me, you must be very proud. I guess if you can get him to go into the Navy you would be a whole lot prouder.
Posted by j-whitman at 10:14 PM : Nov 27, 20
Clinton bent over backwards before he left office trying to make peace; I think Bush said we have nothing else to offer and until someone is ready to make peace, don''t call us.
Posted by j-whitman at 10:25 PM : Nov 27, 2007
Thank you J, that''s all I wanted.
.. I quite frankly can''t remember our argument last Oct. I know others had me going pretty hot.
My appologies Marine
.. I hold honor in the higest reguard & find few in this administration that has any at all execpt to each other... And it''s cost us greatly.
Do you not realize that you rub people the wrong way and then you act like "what did I do, why won''''t you talk to me?"
You believe strongly in what you believe, but you leave no room for other peoples thoughts.
You say you have lost a lot of respect for me, if saying what I believe is enough to make you say that, then again, what have we got to talk about?
Posted by AJMarine1 at 07:24 PM : Nov 27, 2007
You still haven''t adress this
.. I think they may have listened to Isreal''s intell & advisors too much. The old "Trust but verify" moto of Reagans they didn''t pay any attention to.... Isreal isn''t about to advise them on anything if it isn''t in Isreal''s agenda, let alone share all intellegence.
Posted by libsluvsuvs at 04:23 PM : Nov 27, 2007
If either group were legitimately elected and reflected the will of the majority of the people--we''d have to. Unless Democracy is not so much a belief as it is a convenience, exercised only and solely when it suits our personal interests. We''ve had our share of racist, extremists in the White House. We may have them now....majority rules. Maybe not the wish of some--but that is what a Democracy dictates.
Posted by b-easy63 at 09:58 PM : Nov 27, 2007
If Bush thinks he can get them to make peace before he leaves office, he IS inhaling whatever he is smoking.
Looks like America and Bush need to invite Hamas to the party. Because without that faction and the population they control, the bombs won''t stop--does Abbas propose killing his own people or helping Israel and America kill them in order to stop Hamas? If so, then "collaborator" is indeed the appropriate title for him.
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