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Photo: AP
Ramallah protest
Photo: AP

Palestinian faction war takes chronology captive

Hamas will switch to daylight savings time Friday while Palestinian Authority will do so with onset of Ramadan after Sunday

The power struggle and pride games between the Palestinian Authority government led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the Hamas government led by its Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has reached new heights.

 

Hamas has decided to switch the clocks to daylight savings time on Friday after midnight, but the PA will switch their clocks this coming Sunday or Monday according to the moon’s appearance, signifying the beginning of the Muslim month.

 

The Fayyad government announced that the time alterations will occur on the first day of the month of Ramadan. The Hamas instructed all of its institutions to act in accordance with the new clock from Friday after midnight.

 

The outcome: The time in the Gaza Strip will be different than that in the Gaza Strip for a day or two, while in Israel the time change will take place at the beginning of October.

 

The Hamas government decided to cancel Saturday as an official part of the weekend and go back to Thursday-Friday weekends as opposed to Friday-Saturday ones.

 

The governments in Gaza and in Ramallah alike agreed that the hour difference is ridiculous but each side attempted to explain it in a way proving they were the ones setting the agenda.

 

Jamal Zakout, a spokesman for the prime minister in Ramallah told the Associated Press that

''Hamas just wants to show they're different from the Palestinian government, to pretend that they are the real government here; it's politics.''

 

The Palestinians are preparing themselves for the month of Ramadan which will begin upon receipt of confirmation from the Palestinian mufti of Jerusalem who is to declare its onset this Sunday or Monday.

 

In the meantime, both governments are trying to exude generosity by means of subsidies for the unemployed and for needy families.

 

The hope in Gaza is that the month of Ramadan will bring with it the mercy of the Egyptian government to open the Rafah crossing, entirely. Talks on the issue are being conducted between Hamas and the Egyptian leadership.

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.28.08, 21:56
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