Hamas: Poverty may lead to intifada against PA

A senior member of the radical Islamic movement Hamas on Friday warned that if the Palestinian Authority was unable to provide for the well-being of people in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal, inter-Palestinian divisions could flare up into fresh bloodshed, Agence France Presse reported on Saturday. ?If the Palestinian Authority cannot meet the people?s basic needs, there will be a new intifada not against Israel but among ourselves,? said Fathi Hamad, a local leader of Hamas in the Jabaliya refugee camp, one of the hardest hit areas during the five years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting and Gaza?s largest and most poverty-ridden camp. ?There will be a huge popular uprising,? he predicted. ?Hamas is preparing for mass demonstrations.? Hamad went on to say that the Palestinian Authority only speaks for some of the people. He predicted victory for Hamas in January?s legislative elections, the first time the Islamic movement has run in parliamentary polls. ?We are a part of this people and we have to participate in the Palestinian government, even though Europe and the United States are against this. Our leaders cannot impose anything on us,? he said. Although the radical movement will fight for its right to participate in government, Hamad said it would never raise a hand against Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas whose Fatah party dominates the administration. MK Sneh meets Abbas Labor MK Ephraim Sneh said after meeting Abbas in Ramallah on Saturday morning that he had been promised that if Hamas joins the Palestinian Authority government it will have to give up its arms. BPI-info