Palestinians divided over future under Hamas - Independent Online Edition > Middle East: "Asked a routine question about the 2006 Palestinian elections yesterday, Khaled abu Ahmed slipped off his sandal and used it to beat his head several times to demonstrate his remorse for voting Hamas. 'We wanted change and reform,' he said. 'We thought they would bring prosperity. We thought they were people who knew God. But, believe me, they don't know God.' He was standing outside his white goods shop in al Khawaja street, where the first intifada famously began 20 years ago and where the yellow flags of Fatah have recently begun to flutter obtrusively above many of the houses. Before the elections and the subsequent international boycott, he said, he used to make between £1,200 and £1,400 a month. Now, he said, thanks to closures and two years of only sporadic payments to public employees, he is lucky to make £25. 'People have no money to buy anything,' he said, pointing to the street's many shuttered shops. 'We have been occupied by the Turks, the British, and the Egyptians,' he added, his voice rising rapidly. 'We were occupied by Fatah and now we are occupied by Hamas. And the best of these occupations was by the Jews".
No comments:
Post a Comment