Hamas violence may chill anti-Abbas alliance with PLO leftists
Hamas’ crackdown on Gaza Strip protesters demanding a better life has troubled the party's relations with left-wing PLO factions — relations that have grown since the anti-occupation March of Return took off a year ago.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A dispute between Hamas and the PLO's main leftist factions has breached the recent unprecedented harmony in their relations, perhaps derailing what one Hamas source said is an effort to build a coalition against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The leftist factions — the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) — ascribed the rift to Hamas using violence and arresting participants in popular protests March 14-15 against the worsening living conditions in the Gaza Strip. The peaceful protesters marched under the slogan “We want to live.”
On March 16, nine leftist groups, including the PFLP and the DFLP, met with Hamas rival faction Fatah at the PFLP office in Gaza City to appraise the protest. In a statement, they denounced the arrests of protesters and demanded that Hamas apologize and withdraw its security forces from the streets.
However, Basem Naim, a Hamas leader, described the statement in a March 16 Facebook post as shameful.
