Gaza City // On a dirt road leading off Khalil Al Wazira Street is a house number framed by a faded poster of a bearded young man. Like so many buildings on so many similar streets in Gaza City, this is the home of a martyr.
But 21-year-old Mohammed Mansour was not killed by an Israeli airstrike or bullet; he was beaten, tortured and then shot by fellow Palestinians during the violent struggle between Hamas and Fatah that tore through Gaza in 2007 following disputed elections a year earlier.
The fighting, which ended with Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip and Fatah the West Bank, led to a seven-year split between the two Palestinian factions that only ended in June with the formation of a unity government. Much was made of the coming together at last of such bitter enemies, but for the families of young men like Mohammed, moving on is not so easy.
The living room of the Mansour family home in Gaza City is dominated by tributes to Mohammed. Sat on the sofa with his own two children, his brother Ibrahim, 39, says he would prefer to take the posters down but his father refuses. Ibrahim worries about the effect they have on his children.
“My daughter was not born when Mohammed was killed but she still talks about her uncle and says he was a martyr killed by Fatah. My son says that when he grows up he will find Mohammed’s killer,” Ibrahim says.
Mohammed was on his way home from work with a friend on the night of May 13, 2007, when the pair ran into a checkpoint manned by Fatah fighters. His friend, later released, told the family that Mohammed had been suspected of being Hamas and had been arrested and tortured. He was found with 13 bullet wounds in his legs and chest and died five days later while being transferred to Israel for treatment.
Both Fatah and Hamas were responsible for killings during the 2007 war, a fact the politicians signing the unity deal acknowledged by pledging to set up special courts to deal with unsolved cases.
Nidal Sarafit, 62, lost his nephew, Mohammed, to the fighting, after he ran into a group of Hamas fighters on June 13, 2007. The gunmen opened fire, killing Mohammed and injuring his friends, who nonetheless lived to tell his family what happened.
When we meet Nidal he is resting on a hospital gurney outside the International Red Crescent offices in downtown Gaza during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians jailed by Israel who had gone on a hunger strike.
Nidal’s own son, a fighter for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has been in an Israeli jail for 16 years. Along with other protesters with relatives in prison, he fasts from 8am to 8pm every day.
Despite the seven years that have passed since his nephew’s death, the wounds are no less raw. His brother and sister-in-law fled Gaza after their son’s death and still cannot bring themselves to return. Both they and Nidal welcome the setting up of courts and believe that blood money should be paid to the families of victims, but he is sceptical that the government will make good on its plan.
“The political reconciliation was easy, but the social reconciliation will take time. We want the killers to be charged with something. We cannot forgive for nothing,” he says.
On the outskirts of Gaza City in the eastern suburb of Jabaliya, Mahmoud and Abu Ahmed, 43 and 31, sit on a battered couch outside a five-storey concrete home, the walls and ceilings are pockmarked and holed by the shrapnel from an Israeli air strike that killed Mahmoud’s brother in 2009.
The pair were arrested, tortured and jailed last year after being accused of spying for the Palestinian Authority, and only released as a goodwill gesture by Hamas as part of the unity deal with Fatah. Mere weeks after their release, both men are clearly nervous at the idea of telling their story and both decline to give their real names for fear of recriminations.
A former Fatah security services officer, Mahmoud has lived in Gaza since the Hamas takeover in 2007 and lost many friends during the fighting, he says. Since then he has been interrogated regularly, and his home raided by Hamas police. “We just learned to live with it,” he says sadly.
But in April 2013 he was arrested and accused of spying for the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority that governs the West Bank. He was taken to Gaza Central Jail where he was interrogated for 60 days. He claims that he was tortured, forced to stand for days at a time and regularly beaten.
Mahmoud says he has opposed Hamas since his teens, even as a prisoner for three years in an Israeli jail. “They used to consider us unbelievers. It was totally divided between Hamas and Fatah – we had our tents, they had theirs.”
And despite his release, Mohammed is unwilling to forgive.
“I consider them as not being part of the Palestinian people, they represent political Islam. They are not part of us,” he says.
Back in the house off Khalil Al Wazira, Ibrahim is more willing to forgive, despite knowing that one of the men involved in his brother’s death – like other militants who survived the 2007 fighting – had left Palestine and now lives overseas .
He welcomes the unity deal and believes it would selfish for him to oppose it – although he says that the Palestinians involved in the murders should never be allowed to return home.
“It is in the interests of the people here. I cannot oppose the unity deal because Fatah killed my brother. We have to live with it,” he says.
“As for the killers, we have to leave it to God.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
The%20Specs
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The%20specs
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
The%20specs
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Signs%20of%20%20%20%20%20%20%20heat%20stroke
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Kill%20
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Fast%20X
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Company%20Profile
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Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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