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Palestinians attending a Hamas-led protest in Gaza against the Middle East peace conference in Annapolis Tuesday. (Reuters) Last update - 16:52 27/11/2007 One killed as PA forces fire on anti-Annapolis rally in Hebron By Haaretz Service and News Agencies Tags: Annapolis, Palestinians  A Palestinian demonstrator was killed Tuesday during a West Bank protest against U.S.-hosted peace talks with Israel that drew fire from Palestinian security forces, local medics said. They identified the man killed in Hebron as Hisham Baradi, 35, and said he had been shot. It was not clear who shot him. Tens of thousands of Palestinians joined anti-Annapolis rallies in Gaza and the West Bank on Tuesday, chanting "Death to Israel" and calling Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas a traitor for attending the peace talks. Advertisement Those protesting in the West Bank were doing so in defiance of a PA ban on anti-Annapolis rallies in the West Bank, Up to 3,000 people gathered at protests held by a snall Islamist group in Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem and Hebron. Abbas' security forces clashed with protesters, hitting out at the crowd with batons, shooting into the air and firing tear gas to disperse the rallies. A journalist was injured and up to 30 people were arrested in Ramallah, a Reuters witness said. Senior PA official Riad Malki said the Fatah-led government has banned all West Bank activities related to the conference, including press conferences, in an effort to prevent any outbreak of violence. He said the ban was only temporary since the government was working on enforcing law and order and did not want to see any activities that would disturb the order in the West Bank cities. Witnesses said the Ramallah altercation began as soon as the protestors, drawn from the ranks of Palestinian non-governmental organizations and numbering no more than 100, raised banners denouncing the conference and any possible concessions which might result from it. Police ripped down the banners and then began arresting the protestors, hitting some with truncheons and rifle butts when they refused to disperse. The demonstrators had intended to march from the center of Ramallah to the presidential compound in the city. The Muslim fundamentalist Liberation Party had said Tuesday it would defy the Palestinian government ban, and would proceed with plans to demonstrate in six West Bank cities against the international conference. "Our rally is going to be peaceful and we have no plans to cancel it," Liberation Party spokesman Baher Assaf said. "The (Palestinian) Authority does not want anyone to express their views." The Liberation Party is opposed to any negotiated settlement with Israel and believes that all the land of historical Palestine is Muslim property and no one can give up any part of it. Fatah, meanwhile, canceled plans to hold a pro-summit rally in central Ramallah on Tuesday. Fatah officials had protested the government ban, stressing that their protest was going to be peaceful and supportive of the conference. But they said they would honor the decision and cancel their rally. In Gaza, journalists estimated that up to 100,000 people attended the anti-summit protests. Hamas put the number closer to 250,000 -- similar to the turnout at a rally called by Abbas's secular Fatah faction earlier this month for the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death. Speaking at the largest protest in Hamas-run Gaza, leaders of the Islamist group which seized the enclave from Abbas' forces in June said he had no right to make concessions to Israel at the conference. "Let them go to a thousand conferences, we say in the name of the Palestinian people that we did not authorise anyone to sign any agreement that harms our rights," Mahmoud al-Zahar, a Hamas leader, told a cheering crowd. "Anyone who does so will be judged by history as a traitor." Speaking to the Tuesday rally, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said his group would not disarm. "We will stand firmly in the face of policies that attack the will of our people, our factions and our weapons of resistance, Haniyeh said. We reaffirm the legitimacy of resistance and support it as a natural right." Haniyeh also expressed dismay over the participation of 16 Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, a key Hamas patron, at the U.S. summit. He said the Arab masses "will reject ... any concessions to the Zionist enemy. "We are sure that the Annapolis conference will not change the reality of history and geography, he added. Any conference that goes beyond this reality is doomed to failure." After Haniyeh's speech, the Gaza protest gained strength, beginning with several thousand pro-Hamas university students and quickly growing into tens of thousands of people. "History will have no mercy on you," the crowd shouted in a reference to Abbas. Waving Palestinian flags as well as the green Hamas banner and black flag of the Islamic Jihad faction, protesters shouted "Abbas is a traitor." Islamic Jihad officials did not spare their criticism either. The organizations's chairman Ramadan Abdullah Shalah said that "the Annapolis summit is an Arab-Zionist celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary. It strives to destroy the Palestinian struggle with the blessing of the Arab world and especially of the Saudis." "There will be no concessions over one inch of Palestine. We will defend this land by our flesh and we will water it by our blood," Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed al-Hindi told the rally. In Lebanon, several hundred Palestinians protested at the Ain al-Hilweh camp, home to 70,000 refugees, chanting "Overthrow the Arab traitors," in reference to Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Syria which are attending the conference Bookmark to del.icio.us   Nothing to fear Nancy Pelosi in Israel: I trust all presidential candidates in regard to Israel. Bonfire drama Mount Meron grave of famed rabbi at center of ownership row.   1.   No Peace 15:06  |  utagawa 27/11/07   2.   the spirit of resistance 15:08  |  Leon Rosgarten 27/11/07   3.   Life must be good for the Palis 15:15  |  ottomatik 27/11/07   4.   Israel As "Jewish State" 15:54  |  Rossim Khalaf 27/11/07   5.   Hamas is the Democratically Elected Gov.t ! Not Abbas 15:59  |  Straight Talk 27/11/07   6.   the quisling collaborators at annapolis will not prevail;here`s 16:00  |  lakshmi 27/11/07   7.   #2 Rosgarten 16:17  |  * BEN JABO 27/11/07   8.   #5 -- You are incorrect, Abbas is the elected President 16:36  |  idf_sergeant 27/11/07   9.   Nice to see you here, lakshmi 16:38  |  idf_sergeant 27/11/07   10.   # 6 Lakshmi...better be careful 16:39  |  Lynn 27/11/07   11.   Rallies 16:56  |  B 27/11/07   12.   #6 Lakshimi 17:00  |  Michael 27/11/07   13.   Mideast leaders meeting in Maryland 17:08  |  Anton Grambihler 27/11/07   14.   #4 17:08  |  B 27/11/07   15.   PA Troops Fire on Anti-Annapolis Rally 17:11  |  JordanisPalestine 27/11/07   16.   #8 17:13  |  JprdanisPalestine 27/11/07   17.   Israel 17:15  |  J Campbell 27/11/07   18.   send the...... 17:18  |  matilda 27/11/07   19.   lakshmi wrote Israel ! with a capital "I" 17:22  |  Figaro 27/11/07   20.   #6 - don`t worry - Annapolis won`t want to change anything .. 17:23  |  redmike 27/11/07   21.   # 17 J Campbell In the beginning was Judea and Samaria 17:41  |  17 27/11/07   22.   # 4 18:13  |  Mike 27/11/07   23.   There is no representative of the Palestinian people at Annapolis 18:16  |  Natallie Durson 27/11/07   24.   # 4 18:17  |  Mike 27/11/07   25.   Anton Grambihler just doesn`t understand history 18:24  |  utagawa 27/11/07   26.   Rossim Khalaf; Are you dellusionary? 18:46  |  Haham me Bat Yam 27/11/07   27.   J Campbell, boy are you an idiot. 18:51  |  Mark 27/11/07   28.   # 13 Anton Grambihler, How long will Israel defend its homeland 18:54  |  Max the Horoscope 27/11/07   29.   12 Michael & the assortment of zionists,12 michael,I believe in 19:17  |  lakshmi 27/11/07   30.   #17 20:03  |  B 27/11/07   31.   Lakshmi # 29 - "Assortment" of Zionists and cabals 20:07  |  ChanahS 27/11/07   32.   #29 20:07  |  B 27/11/07   33.   PA will need to shoot many more Arabs if they want Peace 20:09  |  Efox 27/11/07   34.   Lakshmi 29 (cont`d) 20:10  |  ChanahS 27/11/07   35.   why censor 20:24  |  max 27/11/07   36.   They Danced on 9/11 20:51  |  Mohan 27/11/07   37.   Fatah/Moderates WE SUPPORT YOU 100%! ...BUT Urge Caution. 22:47  |  Proud Pal Defender 27/11/07   38.   SOLUTION: Hamas, Etc. In Gaza And Fatah In The West Bank. 22:55  |  Proud Pal Defender 27/11/07   39.   31& 34 Chanah S,as usual not actually reading my posts,I did 23:12  |  lakshmi 27/11/07   40.   lakshmi @ 39 23:41  |  ChanahS 27/11/07   41.   PA Action reveals THE problem - No Democracy 00:23  |  B`Galil 28/11/07   42.   HAMAS, Etc.: Death Mongers, Dreamers & Liars To Their People! 01:19  |  Proud Pal Defender 28/11/07   43.   #23 NUTallie Durson 02:54  |  * BEN JABO 28/11/07   44.   Abbas 03:01  |  Fadhil 28/11/07   45.   #5 Straight talk? sounds like you weren`t following 03:20  |  Lynn 28/11/07   46.   It`s odd - I can`t find one pro-Arab 01:50  |  * BEN JABO 30/11/07   47.   PA Police & Armored cars 23:22  |  * BEN JABO 03/12/07   48.   #13 Anton and Borders 16:49  |  David 19/05/08   49.   #23 Natalie and Wanting It All 16:52  |  David 19/05/08

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