Palestinians Celebrate Freedom in Gaza
Joyous Gazans flooded into empty Jewish settlements Monday and Palestinians climbed ropes and clambered over walls to the Egyptian side of this border town to join a chaotic celebration of the end of 38 years of Israeli military rule over the Gaza Strip. Plans by Palestinian police to bar crowds from the settlements quickly disintegrated. Militant groups hoisted flags, fired wildly into the air and set abandoned synagogues ablaze, illustrating the weakness of the security forces and concerns about their ability to control growing chaos in Gaza. The pullout is widely seen as a test for Palestinian aspirations of statehood.Full Story