Hamas distances itself from protests against Iran, Gulf
Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip organized protests against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while others burned pictures of Shiite leaders during another demonstration, prompting Hamas to condemn both for fear of losing Arab support for the Palestinian cause.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — During a demonstration Feb. 3 organized by the Salafist Ibn Baz Charity Association in support of displaced Syrian refugees in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinians burned pictures of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and the late commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.
Khaled Abu Seif, board member of the Ibn Baz Charity Association, told Al-Monitor that this demonstration “expressed the feelings of hundreds, even thousands, of our people who reject the interference of Iran and its Shiite axis in Sunni countries.”
He said, “[Iran’s] interference has caused misfortunes for Muslims, mainly the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Syrians from their lands. So we organized this demonstration in support of the Syrian refugees and to tell Iran that enough is enough.”
Earlier on Jan. 22, Islamic Jihad organized a protest in Gaza City against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), during which protesters chanted slogans against the House of Saud and the Zayed family, and carried pictures of Yemeni Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, Soleimani and Nasrallah, glorifying them.
