Palestinians Clash With Own Security Forces as Elections Stir Deep Unease
NABLUS, West Bank — The brother of the dead man sat in a plastic chair, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee as mourners approached to pay respects. On the wall was a poster of the slain man, the latest Palestinian to meet an untimely, violent end.
But this man, Ahmed Halawa, was not killed in a clash with the hated Israeli military. A Palestinian police officer accused of plotting the murder of two other officers, Mr. Halawa was beaten to death while in the custody of Palestinian security forces.
“We’re living under Israeli occupation,” said the brother, Abdullah Halawa, “but to be honest with you we’ve never seen anything like this from the Israeli soldiers.”
Not that anyone in Nablus, the second-largest city in the occupied West Bank, has grown fond of the Israelis, but Mr. Halawa’s death underscored the internal divisions tearing at Palestinian society with the approach of municipal elections next month. It came after weeks of violence between the Palestinian authorities and what they call outlaw groups, touching off a wave of unrest marked by stone throwing, tear gas and a raucous funeral procession for Mr. Halawa of thousands of people marching through the streets this week.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/world/middleeast/palestinians-clash-with-own-security-forces-as-elections-stir-deep-unease.html