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Sunday, September 03, 2006

Hot time in "Palestine" this weekend!

You'll need a scorecard for this one, but it ended up with 29 injuries and one death on Saturday:
PCHR's preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 20:00 on Saturday, 2 September 2006, a member of the Abu Nahia clan took refuge in "Diwan" of Sowali clan after he was beaten by members of the Barbakh clan. The incident was instigated by a dispute in the crowded Sea Street in Khan Yunis. Members of Barbakh clan gathered around the diwan, located in Jamal Abdel Naser Street, and threw stones at it requesting that Abu Nahia is handed to them.

Members of the Ministry of Interior Executive Force arrived at the scene to break up the dispute. A confrontation developed between the force members and Barbakh clan members. The confrontation developed into hand fights and rocks and empty bottles were thrown. The situation escalated into an armed clash that spread to the vicinity of Naser Hospital in Sea Street, and continued for 3 hours. During the clash, members of Barbakh clan burned a jeep belonging to the Executive Force that was parked in the hospital yard. The Executive Force brought the situation under control. Barbakh clan gunmen withdrew after the Executive Force detained two members of the clan.

The armed clashes resulted in the death of a member of the Executive Force called Khayri Abdel Aziz Abed Soboh, a 23-year old resident of Khan Yunis. He was killed by a bullet in the neck. Twenty-nine others were injured, including 5 children and 3 members of the Executive Force.[1] The injured were taken for treatment in Naser Hospital and the European Hospital in Khan Yunis. The injuries were light to moderate.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, a teachers' strike ended up with those peaceful PalArab bullets again:
NABLUS, West Bank - Masked militants trying to keep students away from school during a politically charged Palestinian teachers' strike on Sunday shot and wounded a 12-year-old boy.

Palestinian teachers began striking Saturday, the start of the school year, to demand full back pay and regular salaries from the Hamas-led government, which has been financially crippled by six months of international sanctions.

Most schools throughout the West Bank remained closed, some by force, as the strike continued.

At least three masked militants stood outside a school in the northern West Bank city of Nablus and fired in the air to keep children away, witnesses said.

Stray fire hit a 12-year-old boy, Issam Ghannam, in the abdomen, witnesses said.
Well, what do you expect? It was an accident! How often does firing in the air result in children getting hit, anyway? Besides all those weddings and funeral celebrations, that is. (And of course they were firing in the air - we have witnesses!)

We also have this incident I missed last week, where those renowned Palestinian Arab police decided to kill someone they suspected of stealing a car, so the PalArab self-death count since late June, that I am aware of, is now at 66.

Sounds like these guys are more than ready to build a state of their own! They obviously care about education, gun control and ties to their clans. What more can you ask?