Hamas boos over gestolen schoenen

Wie stal Haniyehs' schoenen uit de moskee? Nadat hij na het vrijdaggebed ontdekte dat zijn schoenen waren verdwenen werd een grote zoektocht begonnen en werden extra troepen van Hamas naar de moskee gestuurd. Je weet immers maar nooit.

Zijn schoenen werden echter al gauw gevonden, en in Hamas' goedheid werd besloten het kind dat ze had meegenomen niet te straffen.

Gelukkig waren het geen dure schoenen en ze waren gestolen tijdens het gebed, en niet terwijl Haniyeh baadde in de zee bij Tel Aviv of tijdens een luxe etentje met Condoleeza Rice, zei een woordvoerder van Hamas als sneer naar het Fatah leiderschap, dat als decadent en collaborerend met Israël en de VS wordt gezien.

 

Hamas sluit de mogelijkheid niet uit dat Fatah er achter zat, en het kind erop uit heeft gestuurd om de schoenen te jatten. En wie weet handelde Fatah wel in opdracht van de Zionisten....

Ratna

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Jul. 23, 2007 1:58 | Updated Jul. 23, 2007 11:04

Hamas angry over footwear faux pas
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1184766037347&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Who stole the shoes of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh while he was attending Friday prayers in Gaza City?

This is the question that Hamas's security apparatus has been trying to answer since last Friday.

The incident has embarrassed Hamas, whose leaders tried on Sunday to play down the case by claiming that the theft was the work of a child.

Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip accused Fatah leaders in Ramallah of exploiting the incident to defame Haniyeh.

The shoes were stolen after Haniyeh and his entourage arrived at a mosque in Gaza City for Friday prayers. Ever since he was appointed prime minister, Haniyeh has been delivering Friday sermons in various mosques in the Gaza Strip.

In line with Islamic tradition, worshipers are required to take off their shoes upon entering mosques.

Following the prayer, Haniyeh discovered that his shoes were missing. His nervous bodyguard immediately began searching for the missing shoes and all worshipers were required to remain inside the mosque until the search was over.

"It was a very embarrassing situation," said a Palestinian journalist who was present at the scene. "Hamas sent reinforcements to the area and a frantic search for the shoes began."

The shoes were discovered minutes later in the possession of a Palestinian child who admitted that he had stolen them, a Hamas official in the Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post.

"The kid did not even know that the shoes belonged to the prime minister," he said. "He saw shining and neat shoes and decided to take them."

According to the official, the boy was released immediately without punishment. "We didn't take the case seriously because this is not the first time children have stolen shoes of worshipers during the prayers," he said.

Asked if Haniyeh's shoes were expensive, the official said: "These are cheap shoes made in Egypt. I don't think the boy stole them because they looked expensive. He simply saw neat shoes and decided to take them. Haniyeh does not wear Armani suits and Italian-made shoes."

Another Hamas official told the Post he did not rule out the possibility that Fatah activists were behind the theft.

"These Fatah people are doing their utmost to discredit Hamas," he said. "It's possible that the boy was sent by some Fatah activists to steal the shoes to embarrass Hamas. But for us this is not a big issue and we have nothing to hide. Haniyeh's shoes were stolen while he was praying inside a mosque and not while he was swimming on the beach of Tel Aviv or eating in a fancy restaurant with Condoleezza Rice."