An unsightly incident occurred recently at a gathering of top Palestinian Fatah leaders in the West Bank town of Ramallah when one of the movement's representatives publicly lost his temper, and consequently, lost control of his shoes.....
Fatah members had gathered in the Palestinian governmental headquarters in Ramallah to discuss the formation of a unity government between the group and its rival, Hamas. Tens of representatives were present at the important meeting, along with several senior Fatah officials.
During the course of the gathering, Mr. Tawfiq Tirawi, who heads the Palestinian intelligence department, became so infuriated by the former Head of Preventative Security in the West Bank, Jabril Rajoub, that he removed his shoes in order to hit him with it.
The main reason for the bizarre incident was the conflict within Fatah over the current fighting with Hamas, along with Rajoub's opposition to the formation of a Palestinian unity government. Rajoub had also claimed that elements within Fatah were attempting to spread the fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip into the West Bank, apparently referring to Tirawi.
Shortly before the talks began, Tirawi took advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate his disapproval of Rajoub. Tirawi reportedly approached Rajoub, telling him, "I have a message to you from the Fatah children who have been killed in Gaza," at which point he removed his shoes and tried hitting Rajoub with one, who remained seated in his chair, stunned.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hurried over to the men in an attempt to calm Tirawi, and asked him to leave the conference room. Tirawi left, barefoot. His shoes were later returned to him by his security guards.
A day after the meeting, Tirawi offerd his aplogies to Abbas. However, he refused to send apologies for Rajoub.....
© 2007 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
