Palestinians protest against Abbas government at funeral of one of his critics

Record ID: 1623291

  • Title: Palestinians protest against Abbas government at funeral of one of his critics
  • Date: 25th June 2021
  • Summary: HEBRON, WEST BANK (JUNE 25, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SON OF NIZAR BANAT, WHO DIED WHILE IN CUSTODY, SITTING NEXT TO HIS FATHER'S BODY DURING FUNERAL PROCESSION PEOPLE INSIDE MOSQUE DURING PRAYER DURING FUNERAL PALESTINIANS CARRYING BODY OF BANAT AND CHANTING, LEAVING MOSQUE SON OF BANAT DURING FUNERAL BODY OF BANAT COVERED WITH PALESTINIAN FLAG VARIOUS OF HUNDREDS OF PALESTINIANS MARCHING STREETS DURING FUNERAL PROCESSION (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN AT FUNERAL, YOUNIS RAJOUB, SAYING: "Nizar's blood exploded the Palestinian people and returned the Palestinian people to their real morals. They don't know about this nation and it's morals. These people lived in hardship so they learned how to live through hard times." HAMAS FLAG / PEOPLE CARRYING BODY OF BANAT PALESTINIANS CHANTING IN (Arabic): "Down with the rule of the Authority" FUNERAL PROCESSION (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF HEBRON, TALAL RAJABI, SAYING: "Nizar was one of the people who wanted to free the country. But the (Palestinian) Authority don't want people to talk, where ever they go they kill." HEBRON, WEST BANK (JUNE 25, 2021) (REUTERS) (MUTE) AERIAL VIEW OF HUNDREDS OF PALESTINIANS AT FUNERAL PROCESSION OF PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE WHO CRITICIZED PALESTINIAN AUTHORITIES NIZAR BANAT JERUSALEM (JUNE 25, 2021) (REUTERS) PALESTINIANS AT AL-AQSA MOSQUE CHANTING SLOGANS IN (Arabic) : "ABU MAZEN THE TRAITOR" MAN HOLDING PALESTINIAN FLAG DURING PROTEST VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS PROTESTING AND CHANTING AGAINST PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JUNE 25, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS PROTESTING AND CHANTING SLOGANS AT THE CENTER OF RAMALLAH, AFTER A PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE WHO CRITICIZED AUTHORITIES NIZAR BANAT DIED WHILE IN CUSTODY OF SECURITY FORCES RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JUNE 24, 2021) (REUTERS) (NIGHT VIEWS) PALESTINIAN SECURITY FORCES DISPERSING PROTESTERS, FIRING STUN GRENADES PROTESTERS RUNNING AS FORCES FIRING STUN GRENADES PALESTINIAN SECURITY FORCES MARCHING TO DISPERSE THE PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS
  • Embargoed: 9th July 2021 14:52
  • Keywords: Nizar Palestinian Palestinians activist critic security forces
  • Location: HEBRON AND RAMALLAH, WEST BANK/ JERUSALEM
  • City: HEBRON AND RAMALLAH, WEST BANK/ JERUSALEM
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EIWH5XJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
    Palestinian mourners called on Friday (June 25) for a change of government as they marched through Hebron for the funeral of one of President Mahmoud Abbas's most prominent critics, who died after he was arrested by security forces.
    Thousands of people accompanied Nizar Banat's coffin through the streets of the occupied West Bank city, many of them chanting "the people want the fall of the regime" and "leave, leave Abbas".
    Some waved Palestinian flags and others the flag of Hamas, Abbas's Islamist rivals in Gaza. Protesters also gathered in Ramallah and outside East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque.
    Banat's family said Palestinian Authority (PA) forces broke into his house in the city in the early hours of Thursday and hit him repeatedly with a metal rod before arresting him.
    He suffered blows to the head, the PA's Independent Commission for Human Rights said after conducting an autopsy.
    Abbas' Palestinian Authority said it would hold an inquiry, but has not commented on the accusations. The governor for Hebron, Jibrin Al-Bakri, said Banat died when his health "deteriorated" during his arrest.
    Banat, 43, was a social activist who had accused Abbas's PA of corruption, including over a short-lived COVID-19 vaccine exchange with Israel this month and Abbas's postponement of a long-delayed election in May.
    Banat had registered as a parliamentary candidate for that contest.
    Human rights groups say that Abbas, who has ruled the PA by decree for well over a decade, regularly arrests his critics. A Human Rights Watch official said Banat's arrest was "no anomaly". Abbas denies the accusations.
    The United States, United Nations and European Union called on the PA to conduct a "transparent" inquiry into Banat's death.
    (Production: Musa Qawasma,Yosri Al-Jamal, Mohammed Abu Ganeyeh, Ammar Awad, Ali Sawafta, Roleen Tafakji)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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