Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Palestinian view: 'Despite the siege and the suffering, we can share in a feeling of victory'



By Catrina Stewart in Gaza City
The Independent

"In a show of strength rarely displayed these days, masked and heavily armed militants from Hamas's armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, joined the hundreds of thousands of jubilant Palestinians who crowded into Gaza City's Al-Katiba Square to greet the arrival of nearly 300 newly freed prisoners.

The sight of so many fighters in plain view was a throwback to another much bloodier era, but it seemed that Hamas, the engineer of the most lopsided prisoner exchange in Israel's history, intended to drive home the message that the language of force had worked.

"It is a victory for the resistance, a victory for the Palestinian people," said Raida al-Uff, a 30-year-old Palestinian woman. "Despite the siege and the suffering, Palestinians can be happy, even if only for one reason."...."

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