– Gaza Withdrawal...will it bring peace?
 

Gaza unrest may spoil PA plans for calm
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

For the second day running, scores of Palestinian Authority policemen blocked a main road in the Gaza Strip to demand a raise in their salaries. Eyewitnesses said the policemen fired into the air as they closed the coastal road linking the northern Gaza Strip with the southern part of the area and brought traffic to a standstill.

After barricading themselves behind burning tires, the policemen left the area quietly when they were surrounded by a large police force. No casualties were reported.

On Sunday, the policemen staged a similar protest in Gaza City to protest against the PA's failure to equate their salaries with members of other Palestinian security organizations.

The protest is seen as yet another sign of growing discontent among the PA security forces over PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas's failure to fulfill his promise to improve their living conditions. The demonstrations come as the PA prepares to deploy some 15,000 policemen in the areas evacuated by Israel in the Gaza Strip. Some PA officials warned on Monday that the latest unrest could spoil Abbas's efforts to impose law and order in the aftermath of the disengagement.

The PA Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the security forces, strongly condemned the protest as an "act of chaos" and said that measures would be taken against those involved.

In a separate incident, thousands of unemployed Palestinians clashed on Monday with PA policemen in Khan Yunis in the second incident of its kind in 24 hours.

Chanting, "We want jobs, we want food," the protesters marched to the Khan Yunis municipality, demanding that the PA provide them with jobs. The demonstrators hurled stones and firebombs at the police while eyewitnesses said that at least 23 people were injured in the ensuing confrontation. They said the PA policemen used live ammunition and clubs to disperse the protesters.

Abdel Sami Najjar, a representative of the unemployed workers, said the violence used against his friends would lead to a further escalation. "It was a peaceful demonstration that was attacked by the policemen with live bullets and clubs," he said, vowing to step up the protests in the coming days.

In response to the protests launched by the policemen, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights [PCHR] urged the PA to implement the Military Service Law equally.

"PCHR calls upon the Palestinian Authority to fully implement the Military Service Law, which entered into force in July 2005," said a statement issued by the center.

"PCHR also urges the Ministry of Finance to reconsider the false implementation of the law while paying August's salaries to security personnel [because] it reflected a state of discrimination based on sex, in addition to the thousands of security personnel who were deprived of any increase to their salaries."

According to PCHR, the PA started to pay salaries to members of security services on September 3 in accordance with the Military Service Law. "It was noticed that female security members and those who joined security services after 2003 were deprived of any increase to their salaries," it said. "Unofficial sources estimated the number of security members who have not benefited from the implementation of the law at 17000-22000."

Meanwhile, the PA on Monday expressed deep concern over Hamas's decision to appoint "military commanders" in various parts of the Gaza Strip. They also condemned Hamas's decision to reveal the identities of its top commanders in the Gaza Strip as a 'serious provocation."

A PA official accused "influential" elements in Hamas of "seeking to undermine the PA by sowing the breeds of schism among Palestinians."

"Hamas is behaving as if there was no authority in the Gaza Strip," he said. "Some Hamas leaders are trying to trigger a civil war. Our people should be aware of this murderous conspiracy."