Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Palestinians remember Saddam year after hanging
HALHUL, West Bank (AFP) - Some 700 Palestinians observed a minute's silence on Monday as they marked the first anniversary of the hanging of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The demonstration in this southern town in the occupied West Bank opened with the silent tribute for the former Iraqi president who was one of the most popular Arab leaders among Palestinians.
Holding Saddam portraits and gripping Iraqi and Palestinian flags, rally participants recited poems praising the dictator who was hanged on December 30, 2006 in Iraq after a court sentenced him to death for his role in the slaughter of tens of thousands of ethnic Kurds in 1988.
After a sketch parodying Saddam's trial by an Iraqi court, the demonstrators burned Israeli and American flags.
Saddam remains popular among Palestinians due in part to his payments of millions of dollars to the families of suicide bombers and anti-Israel fighters, as well as his missile attacks on Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.
Well, seems there's a road-map to popularity with the Palestinian masses there for us as well if we were to choose to follow it. I think we'll have to settle for unpopularity.
