[AP/Washington Post] Mohammed Daraghmeh - A West Bank professor is thrown into a police jeep and beaten with pipes. Detainees in Gaza are prevented from seeing lawyers. Club-wielding troops in the West Bank break up a peaceful march, and their counterparts in Gaza keep journalists from covering a police raid. It's all part of a widening crackdown on political opponents, both by the Western-backed Fatah movement in the West Bank and by the Islamic militant Hamas in Gaza. The U.S. and Europe have said little about violations in the West Bank, even as they're spending millions of dollars on police training. Analysts say a desire to prevent the West Bank from falling to Islamists appears to override other Western concerns. "The West is supporting one Palestinian faction over the other. It's all about politics, not human rights," said George Giacaman, a political scientist from the West Bank's Bir Zeit University.
2008-08-13 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive