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Fatah Gunmen Threaten Banks in PA
(Jerusalem Post) Khaled Abu Toameh - Masked gunmen took to the streets of some Palestinian cities in the past few days to protest a decision by a number of banks to close the accounts of Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli prisons. New legislation went into effect on May 9 making it "an offense punishable with 10 years in prison and a substantial fine" for bank personnel to conduct transactions involving such accounts. In the areas of Jenin, Nablus, and Ramallah, masked gunmen fired shots in the air and threatened bank managers to reverse their decision. Palestinian sources said the gunmen belonged to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Fatah, the faction headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas. "The Fatah gunmen are affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, and some of them even work as officers in its security forces," said Ibrahim al-Masri, a merchant from Nablus.