Hamas violence may chill anti-Abbas alliance with PLO leftists
Hamas’ crackdown on Gaza Strip protesters demanding a better life has troubled the party's relations with left-wing PLO factions — relations that have grown since the anti-occupation March of Return took off a year ago.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A dispute between Hamas and the PLO's main leftist factions has breached the recent unprecedented harmony in their relations, perhaps derailing what one Hamas source said is an effort to build a coalition against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The leftist factions — the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) — ascribed the rift to Hamas using violence and arresting participants in popular protests March 14-15 against the worsening living conditions in the Gaza Strip. The peaceful protesters marched under the slogan “We want to live.”
