Turkish flags in Ramallah
Photo: AP
Protest in Qalandiya
Photo: Issam Rinawi
Mustafa Barghouti
Photo: Reuters
Fatah official: Israel world's most despicable country
Hundreds of Palestinians protest near Ramallah against lethal raid on Gaza aid flotilla. Palestinian Parliament member Mustafa Barghouti says, 'Israel has made fatal mistake, will have to answer to 40 European, Arab countries'
Hundreds of Palestinians on Monday joined a line of protests against the Israeli military operation against the Gaza aid flotilla and called for an end to negotiations with Israel.
The Palestinians protested in Qalandiya, near Ramallah, against the lethal raid, and called out anti-Israel slogans and slogans in support of the activists on the ships.
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The demonstration was organized by a number of Palestinian groups, but Palestinian Authority officials did not attend. However, a number of Fatah officials and senior sources from other organizations were at the protest, including Palestinian Parliament member, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti.
Global Responses
News agencies
EU foreign policy chief calls for comprehensive enquiry into deaths aboard aid ships seized by Israel's Navy. White House says examining circumstances of clash. Spain, Sweden and Greece summon Israeli ambassadors to their capitals to demand explanations
Speaking from the scene of the demonstration, Barghouti told Ynet that Israel has proven on Monday "that it is the most despicable state in the world if it expects anyone to believe its pathetic lies, according to which the peace activists on the flotilla were carrying weapons, as the Israeli spokespeople have claimed."
Barghouti wondered, "Does Israel expect anyone to believe it when it claims that the adults on the ships were carrying weapons? Israel has committed a serious crime, an act of criminal piracy. It has made a fatal mistake."
According to the Fatah officials, Israel has put itself at a delicate crossroads, and will be forced to deal not only with the Palestinian state, but also with 40 European and Arab states.
"Israel violated Turkish, Greek and Irish sovereignty by attacking ships that carried their flags, and it will be forced to face a much more extensive boycott and official sanctions," Barghouti said.
He added, "The world will stop accepting Israel as a country that conducts itself as if it is above the law, and will start to address it as it addressed the Apartheid Regime in South Africa."
Barghouti said it was regrettable that no cries against the "flotilla crime" were heard from within Israel and said the international movement calling for sanctions and an official boycott of Israel could be expected to grow.
The demonstrators in Qalandiya carried Turkish flags and called out pro-Turkish slogans, but life in nearby Ramallah and the rest of the West Bank's towns and cities went on as usual.
Except for isolated local protests attended by a small number of people, there were no demonstrations against Monday's raid, and Palestinian security forces boosted their presence in the centers of towns and cities in order to maintain peace and quiet.
