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Thursday, February 03, 2011

Hamas and Fatah promoting Facebook revolution campaigns against the other

From Ma'an:
Major General Tawfiq At-Tirawi, former director of the PA general intelligence and Fatah Central Committee member called Wednesday in a statement for the people of Gaza to rise up in revolt against the Hamas government.

The people of Gaza, he said, should take their cue from Egypt and call for the end of the "dictatorship that restricts their freedoms."

At-Tirawi's statement is widely believed to be a response to the new group on the social networking site Facebook, Preparation for the Dignity Revolution, which calls for a mass rally in Gaza City on 11 February.

The group, created on 28 January, has 8,316 supporters, many from the West Bank. In its mission statement, unidentified organizers say they are not affiliated with any political party, but accuse Hamas of "implementing a Zionist-Iranian plan."
Ya gotta love Zionist-Iranian plans!

But Hamas websites are also promoting Facebook groups - against Fatah. The Hamas newspaper Palestine Times says:
Like the Egyptian revolution and the Tunisian revolution before that, thousands of young Palestinians began Facebook campaigns, with multiple calls to overthrow the authority of Abbas in the West Bank, demanding he step down from power and stop the injustice and tyranny and dictatorship in the West Bank.

One campaign, called "Palestinian revolution to overthrow the authority of Abbas," first set up on January 31, was titled "The first movement of the Palestinian people for change..."
The anti-Fatah page is here.

But I'm sure that both campaigns are strictly non-partisan and were set up by concerned young people, acting completely spontaneously. Absolutely.