[International Herald Tribune] Taghreed El-Khodaryand Isabel Kershner - Many Gazans were shocked by the reaction of the Hamas policemen, which included the indiscriminate use of live fire to disperse the crowd at the Fatah rally on Monday. Um Ahmed Awouli, 43, a fully veiled mother of five, described herself as a political independent but said she voted for Hamas in the January 2006 parliamentary elections. "Hamas is wrong. Why did they shoot toward the crowd? My son could have been killed....We voted for Hamas, but now we are angry." On Wednesday, Amnesty International released a statement condemning the "unwarranted use of lethal force" by the police under Hamas control, which resulted in the "unlawful killing" of demonstrators and bystanders, including a child, and the wounding of scores of others. "I saw them beating children, and beating an old woman," said Aliah Suliman, 30, who supports Fatah. "They were brutal. They didn't let an ambulance driver come for those who were bleeding."
2007-11-16 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive