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Photo: Reuters
Hamas preparing for pullout (Archive photo)
Photo: Reuters

Pullout posters wanted

Hamas launches competition for best disengagement poster; winner to receive USD 250

Preparations following Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West bank are underway in Gaza and Palestinian organizations have started distributing symbols, hats, t-shirts and flags.

 

Tens of thousands of articles have been already distributed and hundreds of thousands more are to be handed out over the coming days.

 

Hamas launched a competition Saturday for the best design of a Gaza pullout poster, according to a statement posted on the Islamic group’s website.

 

The design must portray the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a victory for Palestinian groups - in particular, Hamas. The design must also show Israel’s “desperation and defeat,” the website noted.

 

According to contest regulations, all entries must be handed in by the August 10th deadline, after which a committee of judges will choose the first-prize winner, who will receive USD 250. Second- and third-prize winners will receive USD $150 and USD 100 respectively.

 

Hamas officials said they plan to hang copies of the winning poster throughout the streets of Gaza in preparation for pullout celebrations.

 

‘Celebrations will be cultured’

 

In recent weeks, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have been competing for credit for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, each preparing elaborate celebrations, commissioning thousands of flags and frantically sewing clothing with their trademarks.

 

The Palestinians are preparing to celebrate the disengagement from Gaza, "a small but dear part of our homeland," Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said recently.

 

"The celebrations will be cultured and quiet, in order to prove to the world that we are a civilized people who can rule themselves and control our own affairs," he said.

 

A new reality

 

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority is preparing for a new reality in Gaza following Israel’s pullout. 

 

PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is set to meet with a Hamas delegation Saturday evening, where both sides are said to request coordination between their standpoints and actions regarding the pullout.

 

Hamas is expected once again to demand active participation in supervising the withdrawal, especially regarding property left behind by Israeli settlers.

 

The group will also recommend establishing a joint committee for both the PA and factions in order to supervise Israel’s pullout.

 

“We clarified to the Authority that we are not prepared to be a decoration, regarding the issue of Israel’s withdrawal from the (Gaza) Strip,” one Hamas spokesman said. 

 

“We informed them that we are not interested in being part of a national unity government, but we expect to be part of a national committee comprising of all the factions, in which its task would be to supervise the pullout,” he said. 

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.06.05, 14:22
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