Guardian Sees 100,000 Palestinians And No Hamas Thugs: Biased Reporting In Gaza
A PALESTINIAN protest for unity took place on the West Bank and Gaza. The protesters want Hamas and Fatah to unite. AFP reports:
“They attacked us, 400 to 500 Hamas men in plain clothes. I was beaten with a club, many others were beaten,” said one activist, who gave only his first name Ali.
How many protesters braved the goons? Well, The Guardian doesn’t mention the Hamas reaction. Instead you get to read:
Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister, called on Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to meet him “to launch a comprehensive dialogue”. In Ramallah, Abbas said elections were the “only way to end this ugly and unacceptable division”.
Maybe the Guardian felt intimidated and not able to report the facts?
Hamas security forces attacked local journalists covering a peaceful demonstration calling for Palestinian national unity on Tuesday. At least one journalist was taken to the hospital after being beaten, according to CPJ research. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the violence used against the press and calls on the authorities in Gaza to allow journalists to report freely.
And:
Speaking by phone from the protest one man, who asked not to be identified, said about 200 Hamas members carrying flags and chanting Hamas slogans entered the square shortly before 11:30 a.m.
He said two demonstrators were hit with Taser guns and fainted as they shouted demanding the removal of all politically-affiliated paraphernalia from the area.
Was it a popular protest? The Guardian says yes:
“Estimates of the turnout in Gaza City ranged from 10,000 to 100,000.”
Time sees: ”
Some 10,000 protesters were reported in the streets of Gaza City . . .”
The Tehran Times sees multitudes:
Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza City, said that organizers were very happy at the turnout.
The biggest gathering was in Gaza City, where officials from the interior ministry said vast crowds had packed into the city’s Square of the Unknown Soldier, AFP reported.
“There are tens of thousands of people already there, and there may be more on the way,” interior ministry spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein told AFP.
The Toronto Star counts:
“There were an estimated 2,000 demonstrators, many of them Palestinian civil servants who were given time off to attend the demonstration.”
Adding:
In Gaza, Hamas security officers started beating marchers after their demonstration permit expired before sundown, witnesses said. A small Palestinian faction said Hamas security beat dozens with clubs, trying to disperse the crowd.
Such are the facts…
Posted: 17th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
