- Title: Palestinians call for change after death of Abbas critic
- Date: 26th June 2021
- Summary: HEBRON, WEST BANK (JUNE 26,2021) (REUTERS ) (MUTE) VARIOUS OF DRONE FOOTAGE OF PALESTINIANS PROTESTING AFER THE DEATH OF NIZAR BANAT - PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS'S MOST PROMINENT CRITICS - WHO DIED AFTER BEING ARRESTED BY SECURITY FORCES HEBRON, WEST BANK (JUNE 26,2021) (REUTERS) MAN CARRYING A BANNER READING IN (Arabic) : WE WON'T KEEP CALM ABOUT YOUR CRIMES PROTESTERS DURING A RALLY IN HEBRON MAN HOLDING A BANNER READING IN (Arabic): THE EXECUTION OF NIZAR IS A CRIME, ADDED TO THE CRIMES OF THE (PALESTINIAN) AUTHORITY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IBRAHIM TAMIMI, SPOKESMAN OF HIZB UT-TAHRIR IN PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, SAYING: "We want to send a strong message to the Palestinian Authority that this crime, is a heinous and awful crime and it won't pass. We want to tell the Authority that this attack on the Palestinian people will bring shame and humiliation to the Authority. We want send a message to the Authority to raise its hands from the Palestinian people and to stop its persecution, brutality, and arrest in Palestine." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS DURING A RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) KHALIL BANAT, FATHER OF NIZAR BANAT, SAYING: "What Nizar faced is planned and organized crime participated in it all the responsible parties. What I know that when there is an authority it means that there is a decision published from a responsible party and this party direct the decision to the executors." RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JUNE 26,2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS CARRYING BLACK AND WHITE FLAGS CHANTING SLOGANS IN CENTER OF RAMALLAH PROTESTERS CARRYING FLAGS OF HIZB UT-TAHRIR VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS AGAINST PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
- Embargoed: 10th July 2021 15:13
- Keywords: Abbas Israel Nizar Banat Palestinian forces Palestinians
- Location: HEBRON AND RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- City: HEBRON AND RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA001EJ1D8AV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Palestinians on Saturday (June 26) called for a change of government as they marched through Hebron and Ramallah protesting the death of Nizar Banat, one of
President Mahmoud Abbas's most prominent critics, who died after being arrested by security forces.
Banat's family said Palestinian Authority (PA) forces broke into his house in the city in the early hours of Thursday (June 24) 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. Its governor for Hebron, Jibrin Al-Bakri, said Banat died when his health "deteriorated" during his arrest.
Abbas' popularity has plummeted since the 85-year-old was elected president in 2005, with many Palestinians facing economic hardship and complaining of widespread corruption. He has ruled the PA by decree for over a decade.
Making its first statement since Banat's death, the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which Abbas chairs, said the PA inquiry would be impartial and that it would announce its findings at the earliest opportunity.
But the PLO called on Palestinians "and especially the family of the martyr, Nizar, to assume national responsibility ... and not allow anyone to politicize this issue and divert it from its national, humanitarian and legal track."
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 Abbas regularly arrests critics. A Human Rights Watch official said Banat's arrest was "no anomaly". Abbas denies the accusations.
The United States, the United Nations and the European Union called on the PA to conduct a "transparent" inquiry into Banat's death.
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, urged Palestinians to rise up and "put a final end to the widespread violation by the (PA) against the freedoms and rights of our people".
Abbas and the PA, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, reject accusations they are corrupt and that they arrest people for their political views. They also deny torture.
(Production: Mohammed Abu Ganeyeh, Yosri Al-Jamal, Mohammed Torokman, Roleen Tafakji) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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