Posted on 04/01/2002 1:47:12 PM PST by kattracks
Western peace activists holed up with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said Monday that they have vowed to remain with the besieged Palestinian leader in his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah until Israel withdraws its troops.
Arafat has been confined to two rooms of the three-story office building since Friday, when IDF troops took over the compound.
Peace activist Claude Leostic also told Al Jazeera television station Monday that there was "quiet in Arafat's office, which is encircled by eight [IDF] tanks."
Leostic said that the IDF troops tried Monday morning to approach the entrance to the building, but that ultimately no one entered.
Seven foreign peace activists and a Palestinian television cameraman were wounded Monday when an IDF soldier fired at the ground in front of them, officials and witnesses said.
About 100 Palestinian and foreigner demonstrators marched through the center of the West Bank town of Beit Jala behind a sign saying "We want peace not war," witnesses said.
As they approached an IDF armored personnel carrier, an IDF soldier in the carrier fired several shots from a rifle into the street in front of them, sending up chips of concrete, television footage showed.
Health officials said a Palestinian and seven foreigners were hurt. They included two Americans, two Britons, and one each from Australia, Japan and France.
The Palestinian, who was wounded in the leg, was a cameraman covering the march for the Associated Press, colleagues said.
The director of Beit Jala hospital, Peter Qumri, said one woman was undergoing surgery to remove shrapnel from her abdomen and was in a satisfactory condition.
The army said earlier Monday that troops had stopped 50 foreigners, mostly Italians, from entering Ramallah, where they had planned to join others who reached Arafat's office Sunday.
Israel police said the army had handed over 10 French nationals to their custody pending their expulsion from Israel.
No wonder France is turning into a cesspool of anti-Semitism again with goofs like this bunch.
Let's just call them terrorist supporters. That is what anyone who supports Arafat is.
How are they able to delude themselves that, just because they are siding with Satan, they are siding with peace?
Visualize WHIRLED PEAS!
Stop continental drift!
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| A peace activist passes an Israeli tank in the main square of the West Bank City of Ramallah, April 1, 2002. Palestinian gunmen killed eight suspected collaborators and Islamic leaders expressed fury at Israel's isolation of Yasser Arafat as Israeli forces tightened their siege of the Palestinian leader's office. (Reuters) |
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| Palestinian paramedics treat Kumle Ibidun, of Bristol, England, after she was shot by Israeli troops when approaching Israeli tanks near Beit Jalla, adjacent to Bethlehem, Monday April 1, 2002, demonstrating against the Israeli military presence.. (AP Photo/Carina Appel) |
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| A peace activist receives treatment at a hospital after being injured when Israeli soldiers opened fired at a demonstration of international peace activists in the West Bank town of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, April 1, 2002. Five foreign peace marchers and a Palestinian television cameraman were injured by shrapnel when Israeli soldiers fired at their feet, witnesses said. Firing started when about 100 demonstrators, including Palestinians and foreigners, marched near a church carrying a sign saying "We want peace not war," they said. REUTERS/Magnus Johansson |
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| Peace activists and members of left-wing parties demonstrate outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv March, 30, 2002. The demonstrators called on Israel to stop its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Havakuk Levison |
Yum!
Are these "activists" part of the same bunch that tried to smuggle out terrorists?
Not to worry. She likely has her brain in the carriage rather than a baby. That, or some gifts for her idol Arapork.
They're just spoiled children...
They want more handouts, from you and me each day...
They cause the ills! We pay the bills!
Be an adult: Disown the Brats, and Walk Away!
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