Something that is still happening.

Palestinians in Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Gaza City turned up in the thousands to reject the war for stewardship of Palestine, a war waged by Hamas and Fatah. Many in Palestine, particuarly young people, are evidently sick of having to deal with their nation's historic burden of piss-poor leadership that began with al-Husseini and continues today with Haniyeh and Abbas. On March 15, in the streets of these cities, protestors from GYBO and Palestine For Us repudiated that leadership and called for national unity via a Palestinian National Council.

In Gaza's central square, Hamas swiftly silenced that call.

On the day, members of Hamas shoved their way through the Unity demonstrators, who had been camped out for days, and hoisted the party's flag and chanted the party's slogans. They even went to the trouble of setting up louder speakers to drown out any attempt by the Unity people to carry out their demonstration.

Tell me that paragraph doesn't read like a dispatch from Ceaușescustan.

So the demonstrators moved to Kateebe square. Then, PNN reports, things got worse:

During the day, a strange phenomenon took place: journalists and cameramen working for local and international media outlets received text messages on their cell phones warning them to be careful about what they broadcast.

And worse:

As the sun started to set on Tuesday, the purpose behind the message became clear: security forces dressed like civilians and belonging to the Hamas-led government broke up the youth rally using batons and metal rods. Their tents were put on fire and the youth were chased all over Gaza streets. Journalists were also attacked, and their cameras and tapes were confiscated.

Sounds like another day in a one-party state.

Nothing quite so depressing went down here in the West Bank. In fact, in Ramallah and Bethlehem the demonstration hasn't ended: the protestors have stuck around under "unity tents." In Bethlehem's Manger Square, the head count has decupled from 9 to 100.

Joudat al-Sayah, one of the youths, told PNN, “We are staying until all our demands are met. We been here for three days so far and we are not leaving until our demands are reached.”