A founder of Hamas promised "hell" for Israel to avenge Palestinian militants' deaths as thousands turned up Friday to mark the 13th anniversary of the Islamist movement's creation.
"The Zionist enemy opened the gates of hell itself and Shlomo Ben Ami's visit to Gaza will not change that one bit," Salah Shehadeh told an estimated 30,000 people assembled at Gaza City's Yarmuk Stadium.
The Hamas leader was referring to an unexpected meeting Thursday night in Gaza between Ben Ami, Israel's foreign minister, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in hopes of restarting the peace process, at a standstill even before violence broke out in late September.
Shehadeh, flanked by three bodyguards carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles, promised revenge for the deaths of Hamas and other Palestinian militants killed by the Israeli army in the nearly three months of violence.
It was a rare public appearance by Shehadeh, who was released last year after serving 12 years in an Israeli prison for having founded Hamas' armed wing, Ezzedin al-Qasam.
"Let the Zionists know that the fire will flow onto them and that the Palestinians' vengeance is awaiting them," he said.
In a show of anger, masked youths beheaded a lamb bearing a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak for its face.
Members of the crowd chanted slogans against Israel, burning Israeli and US flags and parading a donkey dressed in the blue and white of the Israeli flag.
Others destroyed a miniature of Netzarim, the Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip that has been the focus of some of the worst violence since late September.
Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who has been suffering from a cold, attended only a portion of the celebration, during which young armed men surrounded his wheelchair.
Hamas was created on December 14, 1987, at the start of the first Intifada, or anti-Israeli uprising, which lasted until 1993.
Staunchly opposed to that year's Oslo peace accords, Hamas has claimed responsibility for most of the anti-Israeli attacks since 1994.
Hamas has long been a rival to the Arafat-led Palestinian Authority, but relations between the two have warmed up amid the violence of recent weeks, with most Hamas members being released from the Authority's jails, infuriating Israel.
The movement issued a 13th anniversary statement on Thursday in which it affirmed that "holy war is the only way to assure victory."
Hamas also urged Palestinians to pray in large numbers at Jerusalem's holy sites and demanded the execution of Allan Beni Ouda, whom the Palestinian judiciary sentenced to death last week for killing his Hamas-affiliated cousin in a car bombing allegedly backed by Israel.
The group denounced moves to relaunch the peace process and the establishment of an international fact-finding commission as "desperate attempts to save the Zionists" -- GAZA CITY (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
