At least 300,000 Gazans rally to mark Hamas 20th anniversary

Source: News Agencies, 15-12-2007
At least 300,000 Palestinians rallied in Gaza City on Saturday to mark the 20th anniversary of Hamas's founding, as deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh promised Hamas would not succumb to international pressure.
The central square in Gaza City was awash with green flags and dozens of armed, masked men from the group's military wing patrolled. Some estimates put the crowd as high as 500,000.
"The message from you today is that Hamas and these masses will not yield before the sanctions," Haniyeh told the cheering onlookers. The crowd shouted in response, "To you, we come Haniyeh."
"Today is the day of Jihad, resistance and uprising," he said. "Those who remain committed to the constant rights of their people, those who make an enemy of America and the Zionist occupation ["Israel"] gain popularity. This is Hamas."
Haniyeh lambasted the renewal of peace talks between "Israel" and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' administration in the United States last month, warning they will not bring about a cessation of "Israeli" settlement construction or yield any other "Israeli" concessions.
"As for the fruits of the other track, the track of negotiations, normalization and bargaining, all can see that it is the consolidating of settlements ... injustice and oppression for the Palestinian people," Haniyeh said. "It is bitter fruits."
The Hamas leader warned Abbas against conceding in peace talks on the Palestinian demand that refugees who fled past wars with "Israel" and their descendants be allowed to return to their homes. Their fate is a key sticking point in the talks that are meant to iron out a final peace agreement.
"There is no such thing as a just solution to the right of return," Haniyeh said. "It is the right of every refugee ... to return to the land."