Palestinians hired to protest Bush, rally for Saddam
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, September 12, 2002
GAZA CITY — Iraqi agents have been paying Palestinians to mobilize support for Saddam in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.
On Tuesday, an estimated 2,000 Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza City in support of Saddam. Organizers of the rally distributed checks of $10,000 each to the families of 36 people killed in the war against Israel since July, the sources said.
The Baghdad-based Arab Liberation Front has intensified activities for Saddam and against the United States by winning cooperation from the Islamic opposition Hamas movement. The front has organized rallies and distributed posters of Saddam, Middle East Newsline reported.
The pro-Saddam rally on Tuesday was attended by Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin. It was a rare appearance for Yassin, who has been sidelined by a heart ailment.
"We, the Palestinian people, are standing with Iraq and its people in front of the American offensive," Yassin said. "We are one body."
[In Washington, the State Department withheld comment on the pro-Iraqi demonstrations in the PA. "I didn't notice the protest in Gaza," department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Tuesday. "I think we've seen things like that before."]
Palestinians are also said to be buying video cassettes by a Hamas cleric who praises Al Qaida attacks on New York and Washington. The cleric said the suicide hijackings last year marked the end of the United States.
A cigarette lighter that depicts the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center next to an image of Osama Bin Laden is also selling well in the Palestinian Authority. Israeli officials said a shipment of such lighters were seized in June when a cargo destined for the PA arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod.
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