WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The labor minister in the Palestinian Authority will resign, a member of his party says, as protesters marched for a fourth day demanding that President Mahmoud Abbas step down.
The left-wing Palestinian People’s Party has decided to withdraw from the Fatah-led PA government due to “its lack of respect for laws and public freedoms”, central committee member Issam Abu Bakr said.
Nasri Abu Jaish, the labor minister and the People’s Party representative in the government, will therefore resign, Abu Bakr told AFP.
The announcement followed days of heavy protests against the Palestinian Authority (PA), triggered by the violent arrest and death in custody of an activist.
Nizar Banat, a 43-year-old known for social media videos denouncing alleged corruption within the PA, died on Thursday shortly after security forces had stormed his house and violently arrested him, his family said.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) called on local and international media outlets to boycott the Palestinian Authority and Abbas.
The syndicate, in a statement released on Sunday, called on Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh to fire the Palestinian police chief over failure to ensure journalists’ protection, banning correspondents from covering anti-PA protests, and allowing undercover forces to attack them.
The PSJ demanded prosecution of the assailants, and asked Shtayyeh to issue an apology to journalists and to pledge to respect their work as well as freedom of expression.
If the PA’s aggression on journalists continues, the syndicate noted, other measures would be taken in the meantime.
The syndicate highlighted that it would start filing criminal complaints against those involved in the attacks against journalists.
Palestinian security forces clashed with thousands of angry protesters, who had taken to the streets of Ramallah, to protest Banat’s death.