<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Palestinian prisoner society calls for firing Habbash from his&nbsp;post]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<table width="100%" align="center">
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<td><span class="PublishedDate">[ 					08/11/2010 &#8211; 11:19 AM ] </span></td>
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<p style="font-size:10pt;">RAMALLAH, (PIC)&#8211; The Palestinian  prisoner society called on de facto president Mahmoud Abbas to remove  his minister of religious affairs Mahmoud Habbash from his post after he  expunged 200 names of relatives of martyrs and prisoners from the list  invited by the Saudi king to go on pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makka under his  hospitality.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">In a news conference on Sunday, head of  the society Qaddura Faris denounced Habbash for claiming that these  names were delisted at the request of Saudi Arabia and that what  happened was just a technical mistake that would be addressed later.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">He affirmed that what happened was intentional and not just a coincidence.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Different Palestinian figures and institutions also slammed what is known as Habbash scandal.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Senior Fatah official and director of  Jerusalem file Hatem Abdelqader expressed his dismay at Habbash&#8217;s  decision to exclude more than 200 pilgrims from Jerusalem and the 1948  occupied lands from the list of names invited to perform Hajj after they  were earlier informed that their names were on the list of pilgrims who  would leave to Makka.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Abdelqader said this decision caused a  state of frustration and anger among the families of prisoners and  martyrs, especially after they had finished all preparations for their  departure for Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Head of Ansar Al-Sajeen society Munir  Mansour stated that what Habbash did would perpetuate the policy of  exclusion and marginalization pursued against the Palestinians in the  1948 occupied lands.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Senior leader of prisoners in Israeli  jails Ahmed Abu Sukkar called on all Palestinian factions to pressure  Abbas to dismiss Habbash from his job and holding him accountable for  what he did.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">More than 200 pilgrims, relatives of  detainees, ex-detainees and martyrs from Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied  lands, were supposed to go to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj rituals  after all their travel documents were processed, but they were surprised  to hear that Habbash ordered their names to be replaced with other  names of people he already selected.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">In this regard, the follow-up committee  for prisoners affiliated with the higher follow-up committee for Arab  affairs in the 1948 occupied lands in cooperation with the association  of Arab prisoners and the commission on Jerusalem prisoners held a news  conference on Saturday evening in the Plaza hotel in Nazareth city.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Representatives of the Arabs in the 1948  occupied lands strongly denounced in the conference Habbash for  depriving families of prisoners and martyrs from performing Hajj this  year, affirming that the whole list was cancelled by him.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">For their part, families of prisoners  rallied on Sunday outside Al-Khalil mayor&#8217;s office to demand the  Palestinian authority to redress the mistake done by Habbash and approve  their travel to makka.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">The families handed the mayor Kamel Hamdiya a protest letter in this regard.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">In a related development, spokesman for  the ministry of prisoners in Gaza Riyadh Al-Ashqar reported that the  crisis of pilgrims ended after it was agreed to grant them visas from  Jordan and facilitate their travel soon.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">Spokesman Ashqar told the Palestinian  information center (PIC) on Monday that the crisis was resolved after  the ministry of prisoners exposed what Habbash did, affirming that the  Saudi king intervened to end the problem.</p>
<p style="font-size:10pt;">He said that the pilgrims would travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and Wednesday at the latest.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s70dE3t1yrFR%2f0fkLHQXOMP7rzk9zhxsYPivjO%2fDJ7kBMi4fos3F%2bBF6LnaIaNDfDjYJWQJfWqBQSaWTGbfsAlV9eGqyWIYuIhT1C2qIzjW%2bY%3d">Palestinian prisoner society calls for firing Habbash from his post</a>.</p>
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