Arafat commemorations highlight Palestinian dividePalestinian president Mahmud Abbas launched a bitter attack on the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza on Tuesday as a divided nation marked the fourth anniversary of historic leader Yasser Arafat's death. Abbas accused Hamas of sabotaging efforts to mend the rift in Palestinian ranks created by its bloody seizure Forcible possession; a grasping, snatching, or putting in possession. In Criminal Law, a seizure is the forcible taking of property by a government law enforcement official from a person who is suspected of violating, or is known to have violated, the law. of the Gaza Strip Gaza Strip (gäz`ə), (2003 est. pop. 1,330,000) rectangular coastal area, c.140 sq mi (370 sq km), SW Asia, on the Mediterranean Sea adjoining Egypt and Israel, in what was formerly SW Palestine. last year and of using force to prevent any commemorations for Arafat in the coastal territory. In his speech delivered besides Arafat's graveside grave·side n. The area beside a grave. at his political headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Abbas blamed Hamas for the abandonment of planned reconciliation talks due to have been held in Cairo on Sunday, accusing it of "not wanting dialogue." He charged that the Islamists had invented "false pretexts" for not showing up at the scheduled talks with the other Palestinian factions in the Egyptian capital. "They missed this opportunity and I am talking of the Hamas leadership here." Abbas again insisted that his security services Security services are state institutions for the provision of intelligence, primarily of a strategic nature, but also including protective security intelligence. Examples include the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in the United Kingdom, and the were not holding Hamas activists as "political prisoners" in the West Bank as the Islamists have charged. He noted that his government was continuing to pay the salaries of some 77,000 civil servants in Gaza despite the Hamas "putsch". "As for them, they smuggle smug·gle v. smug·gled, smug·gling, smug·gles v.tr. 1. To import or export without paying lawful customs charges or duties. 2. To bring in or take out illicitly or by stealth. in money arms and drugs through tunnels (from neighbouring Egypt) and do business." Abbas also accused Hamas of blocking any commemorative com·mem·o·ra·tive adj. Honoring or preserving the memory of another. n. Something that honors or preserves the memory of another. com·mem events for Arafat in the Gaza Strip "under the threat of armed force". Unlike in the West Bank, where thousands of Palestinians turned out to hear Abbas give his address which was also carried live by Palestinian television, no events were planned in Gaza. An organising committee made up of all the main Palestinian factions except the Islamists accused Hamas of refusing authorisation to hold any commemoration in the territory. But the Hamas-run interior ministry said it had received no such request and that it had a responsibility to maintain order. Last year, a massive memorial rally in Gaza was marred by violence when Hamas police opened fire on the crowd, killing eight people and wounding 130. The Islamists seized power in the territory in June last year after a week of deadly street fighting For other uses, see Street Fight. Street fighting is a term used to denote unsanctioned, usually illegal, hand-to-hand fighting in public places. The term also usually carries the connotation that the fighters are largely unskilled, or at least not professional martial with forces loyal to Arafat's and Abbas's secular Fatah faction. The takeover, which confined con·fine v. con·fined, con·fin·ing, con·fines v.tr. 1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at hand. See Synonyms at limit. Abbas's rule to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and split the Palestinians into two hostile camps, was followed by the ransacking ran·sack tr.v. ran·sacked, ran·sack·ing, ran·sacks 1. To search or examine thoroughly. 2. To search carefully for plunder; pillage. by Hamas supporters of Arafat's former residence in the Gaza Strip. Nayef Harbiyat, 83, who had travelled to the Ramallah memorial ceremony from Dhahiriya at the other end of the West Bank, bemoaned the loss of the historic Palestinian leader. "With every year that has passed, people realise how much he protected our people. Four years after his death, we are enduring insurmountable divisions." Maan Ahmad, 16, agreed. "If Arafat were still alive, all of this would never have happened," he said. 
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