122 General Intelligence Service were directly or indirectly responsible for preventing the conference from taking place. A large number of individuals who caused the state of chaos which prevented the conference from taking place were members of the General Intelligence Service. Some of them introduced themselves in some cases, and others were known to some. There were complaints noted that the Director of the Intelligence of Ramallah and Al Bireh was seen in the hall. The presence of police officers and their failure to intervene and stop the attacks on the participants confirms that the party responsible for what happened is an official party, or otherwise the police officers would have intervened to protect the organizers and participants. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decided to form a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances of what happened in the Protestants Club in Ramallah. He showed immediate interest in the state of chaos that prevailed at the conference.143 But the commission has not announced its findings so far. Dr. Salam Fayyad apologized for the incident and said that “what happened is a clear and significant disturbance, and as President of the Government I bear the full responsibility towards what happened and I apologize for it. I say what I say out of a sense of regret and a sense of confidence that it won’t happen again.”144 In the Gaza Strip, the right to peaceful assembly has been exposed to numerous violations during the year 2010. The state of political division sheds its shadow on exercising this right on the ground and restrictions were placed by the Interior Ministry on its practical application. ICHR documented many cases of violations of this right. On 10/01/2010, the police prevented the General Union of Palestinian Women from organizing a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. According to information obtained by ICHR, members of the General Investigation in Jabalia summoned the managing director and the keeper of the Jabalia Services Club. They were forced to sign a pledge not to organize the ceremony and not to open the club hall where the conference was scheduled to take place, in spite of the police being notified of it. On 01/03/2010, the police prevented the Palestinian Democratic Union “Fida” from holding a ceremony to mark the anniversary of its inception, which was scheduled to take place in a closed restaurant in Gaza. According to information obtained by ICHR, a unit of the General Investigation came to the restaurant “Sammak”, west of Gaza City, and notified the organizers it was not to take place. 143 144 http://www1.wafa.ps/arabic/index.php?action=detail&id=84147 http://www.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90151&Itemid=1