‘Liberating the Holy Land’: Thousands Gather in Gaza to Celebrate Hamas’ Anniversary
- Posted on December 14, 2011 at 7:36am by
Billy Hallowell
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (The Blaze/AP) — Tens of thousands of Gazans turned out Wednesday for an anniversary rally of the ruling Hamas, a demonstration of strength for the Islamic militant movement ahead of Palestinian general elections tentatively set for the spring.
The annual rally has become an increasingly elaborate exercise in stagecraft since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 following internal fighting with forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. This year, Gazans celebrated the group’s 24th anniversary.
The crowd faced a huge stage in the shape of a ship, meant to symbolize the Palestinian journey of return to all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, including what is now Israel.
A large replica of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque, built on the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temples, served as a backdrop. “Oh, Jerusalem, we are coming,” read one of the banners.
Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri told the crowd that Hamas is “closer to liberating the holy land and holy shrines and closer to another great victory in coming elections.”
While there is not yet footage from the 2011 event, last year’s celebrations can be viewed below:
Hamas, a branch of the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood, was established in Gaza in December 1987, shortly after the outbreak of the first Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. It adopted a militant ideology that called for armed struggle against Israel, with the eventual aim of reclaiming all of historic Palestine.
Hamas grew in popularity over the years, in part because of its social welfare system, and defeated Abbas’ Fatah movement in parliament elections in 2006. It has accumulated a large arsenal of rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosives. As part of its anniversary statement, Hamas said its militants have fired more than 11,000 rockets and mortar shells at Israel since 2000, and that the group has killed more than 1,300 Israelis in scores of attacks since its founding.
In the statement, Hamas said it would continue “all forms of resistance against the occupation, until liberation, independence and the return of the Palestinian refugees.”
However, Hamas has largely stuck to an informal truce with Israel in recent months, and has tried to prevent other militant groups from firing rockets at Israel from Gaza. Rocket attacks on Israel have dropped sharply since a major Israeli military offensive against Hamas in the winter of 2008-2009.
Hamas organizers said some 350,000 people attended Wednesday’s rally. The estimate could not be confirmed independently, but the rally site, a large open area, was packed and an overflow crowd spilled into adjacent streets.
The rally came a week before another round of reconciliation talks between Abbas and Hamas’ top leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal.
The leaders said last month that they are ready for better relations, after years of acrimony, but failed to chart a clear path to new elections, tentatively set for May. Despite the apparent goodwill, gaps between the rivals are deep, and officials from both sides said it would be unlikely progress can be made at next week’s talks in Cairo.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Since the takeover in 2007, Hamas has cemented control over Gaza, while a rival government reporting to Abbas has run parts of the West Bank, though Israel retains overall security control there.
On Wednesday, Israeli troops arrested a Hamas lawmaker in the West Bank, Ayman Daraghmeh, taking him from his home in the town of Ramallah, his family said. Israel has repeatedly detained members of the Hamas faction in the now-defunct Palestinian parliament, chosen in 2006 elections in the West Bank.
Of 47 Hamas legislators from the West Bank and east Jerusalem, 20 are currently in jail, the movement said. Daraghmeh, considered a Hamas pragmatist, was previously held for 20 months and released a year ago.
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heartitorleaveit
Posted on December 20, 2011 at 10:13pmJohn 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Report Post »AnAmerican111
Posted on December 16, 2011 at 3:22pmPalestinians or whatever they are must be like the “occupiers”….
No job, no need to work, just sit around and protest!
To see both groups running around and chanting stuff reminds me of a SNL skit! Good comedy!
Report Post »heartitorleaveit
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 1:01amLatest version of Gunsmoke:
(Fade from credits) “Move along, nothing to see here, were just gonna set up over here in your back yard.” Nevermind the peacefull muslims, tears in there eyes I guess, were just makin goatsmilk for the market to help the locals and stuff. “Man that hummus sure is tasty Hoss !“ ”lets go tell pa.”
Fade to Black
Meanwhile two generations later, back at the reanch:
“THATS OFFENSIVE! HOW DARE YOU LOOK AT MY WOMANS ANKLES! THIS IS THE LAND OF MY FORFATHERS AND ALL THOSE WHO DO NOT SUBMIT MUST BE BEHEADED!”
“gee uncle Joe, we have been politically incorect!“ ”we oughta go turn ourselves into the marshall!”
—–
sheesh these ANTICH-RISTIANS ARE CURSED ;]
Report Post »Centralsville
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 5:35pmIslam. That religion that comes into country once occupied by Jews and Christians and claims it for their own. Shameful that people would cling to a religion that was forced on their ancestors at the point of the sword. A religion that teaches convert or die and no other religion will be tolerated. A religion that teaches if you leave the religion you should be killed. A religion that kills people of other religions then converts their houses of worship into Mosques.
Report Post »garyM
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 2:31pmImportant Bible facts:
Report Post »The Last Old Testament prophet was John the Baptist even though we read about him in the New Testament coming before Christ, the Last New Testament Apostle was The Apostle Paul, Apostleships ended with Paul!
Never believe anyone who tells you they are a modern day Apostle, they are false teacher!
bonnie00000
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 9:42amin the beginning of Jesus ministry , he used apostles they spread the gospel with signs following(miracles of healing.. apostles preached the gospel of the kingdom o Christ) Now it also sys the gospel shall be preached to all nations then shall the end come…so i think we need to be careful to say things , because there could be an element we dont understand. but we do need to be alert , because there will be many false prophets , and the first thing Jesus tells us is take care that we not be decieved. so we must take care that we are not decieved..
Report Post »proudinfidel54
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 3:30pmDid you know “Barrack” was the name of the winged horse that supposedly carried mohamid to Heaven, So Obama is not a Muslim, he’s a winged horse.
Report Post »ephraimtheox
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 12:11pmDo DNA tests on the “Palestinians” and you’ll find many are in fact Jews who where forced to convert to Islam. One reason they cling so tightly to the land. Doubtful, but this might change a few hearts
Report Post »BassChick
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 12:01pmMId-Dec through Mid-Jan…..debka.com
Report Post »tzion
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 10:22amThis is what happens when America tries to make the world do as we want. It was America that encouraged the empowerment of the PLO terrorist organization to create the PA. Prior to that Arafat was broke and operating out of Tunisia. Then we encouraged elections and we got Hamas in power. These people have no comprehension of what freedom is. When given a choice between the corrupt PLO and the humanitarian Hamas they chose Hamas. Why was anyone surprised?
Report Post »AB5r
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 9:12amThis of the absurdity of so-called “Palestinians” and Muslims trying to claim they are the historic residents of that area, even their so-called capital city Ramallah – WAS FOUNDED BY CHRISTIANS from across the Jordan river who were trying to escape Muslim persecution in the 16th century. And most of the other towns in the area do not have Arab or Muslim names, they are Hebrew names or Arabized versions of Hebrew names.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:31am.
Report Post »Israel should attack on a friday catch’em off guard, when their all head to butt praying…..
Baddoggy
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:49amI dont understand how Israel puts up with this crap. They could get 350,000 of them right now…Oh there i go dreamimg again….
Report Post »SlimnRanger
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 9:03amLet the games begin, Bible prophesy must be fullfilled,the blood bath will occur,we can’t stop it,no one can stop it,world war III can happen at any time now,and 2.2 billion people on earth will be killed,thats 1/3 of the pop. on earth,it is written and it will happen,then the anti-christ is revealed,the battle of armangddon will take place,so who will be the victor? Jesus Christ will be,he will return with all the christians,We will be ridding white horses when we come back with the King of King and Lord of Lords,and after the battle is over the Kingdom age will be ushered in, no more war and man will forget how to war against others,for 1000 years there will be perfect peace,man(women also) will live to be several hundered years old again,Yes sir I do believe it will happen just as Gods Holy word says it will happen,and to all the folks that think it’s a fairy tale,Woe be unto you.
BoomSlander
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 9:24am@SLIMNRANGER Wow, no one has ever predicted the end of times before! Have fun waiting on that one.
Report Post »jasmer
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 9:37amOne wonders why we don’t get more “application testing” out of the Boeing YAL-1/ALTB… one of the political Mullahs spontaneously turning into a cinder while chanting “Death to America” would do wonders for morale.
Plus some great chuckles watching Pallywood try to claim he was taken up to heaven…
Report Post »proudinfidel54
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 9:54amRIGHT, Hey Israel here is your big chance all of their eggs in one basket, so to speak. SPANKDAMONKEY, I love your avatar/logo “Go Saints”
Report Post »tzion
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 10:03amSo you advocate sinking to their level? They already did that in 1973 when they attacked on Yom Kippur, a day so holy that Jews who never pray once all year round are in synagogue. Israel had to send couriers into synagogues to call up its troops because many people don’t carry or answer phones. Traditionally Jews don’t eat for over 24 hours starting in the evening, meaning that most of the soldiers they called up hadn’t eaten since the night before. Israel is better than the Palestinians because it doesn’t go out and try to exterminate its enemies and anyone who says otherwise would have to explain how there more Palestinians today than in 1967.
Report Post »momsense
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:19amLiberating or stealing—-seems the words mean the same thing.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:30amIndeed, amazing how a nation that is bombarded with rockets and missiles, terror attacks and such is constantly condemned by the world when they respond with minimal force at the terrorists. And yet the very terrorists are made into the ‘victims of a hostile occupying power’ by the same world.
War is all but inevitable now.
Report Post »Rechercar
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 2:15pmBe careful with that one; it can cut both ways.
“They are not ‘occupied territories,’ they are Liberated Territories.” – Menachem Begin
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:18amIsrael should load up a dozen or so crop dusting planes with the blood of hogs and spray them down real good.
Report Post »Truthbeliever2
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 12:42pmIsreal should EXTERMINATE the entire middle east, all of them. Turn the entire Middle East to green glass. And when they are all dead pound the sand again and again for good measure. Just on case the rats crawl underground into their caves. It would be a breath of fresh air. To eliminate those who would attack our citizens in their daily routines of work and life. The world would then be rid of the vilest most bloodthirsty animals on the planet: Muslims! Who’s daily lives are spent worshipping a prophet and God that praises them for the rape and murder of the innocent. A god that praises them while they saw your head off and scream alla Akbar, with their “lalalalalalalalalala”. ANIMALS!!! And there are Billions of them. If they are not doing these things to us, they treat eachother that way. Oh Yea! Centence that woman who was RAPED, to death b/c she could not stop her attackers.
Muslims: what a wonderful people. (sarcasm off)
Report Post »TeaPartyGoth97
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 3:07pmI nice idea in theory, but, even ignoring how angry the rest of the world would be, radiation travels far, truthbeliever.
Report Post »TxSon
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:12amYes, it is about time to liberate the Holy Land from the clutches of Islam and return it to God’s people.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:50amAgree 100%! I stand with Israel!
Report Post »audaxrex
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 2:12pm…let’s not forget that Hamas is the ELECTED government of Gaza. Israel goes on and on about how they are the only elected government in the middle east – they aren’t. And how many Palestinians can vote in Israeli elections? It‘s not democracy if the people who were born there can’t vote there.
Report Post »I hope we‘re ALL ’God’s people.’
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:10am.
“Oh, Jerusalem, we are coming.”
I think it’s time to SpankDaHamas………
Report Post »poorrichard09
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:15amOh, Jerusalem-Jesus is coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and every knee shall bow down to Him.
Report Post »discus02
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 7:49amGo shoot yourself nobody cares about your smelly selves!
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 7:40amThis will be their doom!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 7:46amThe Koran built the Caliphate, which built Sharia Law… being a Theocracy for Idiots! Hence, what Idiotic Act would Doom this Culture?
Report Post »NOBAMA201258
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:02amThe Israelis have shown amazing restraint given all the attacks since that 08-09 offensive.If hamas steps up their attacks up like they say are going to Then Israel will have to destroy these animals! Newt is right, they are an invented people. I wonder if they will issue a fatwa on Newt?
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