Posted on 09/28/2003 4:03:54 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
Palestinians March to Mark Anniversary of Intefadeh
Published: Sep 28, 2003
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The demonstration came as the Palestinians appeared set to appoint a new Cabinet filled with Arafat loyalists, despite efforts by the United States and Israel to sideline the Palestinian leader, whom they accuse of fomenting terror attacks.
Also Sunday, members of Islamic Jihad said one of their members was responsible for a weekend shooting attack on a West Bank settlement that killed two Israelis - one an infant - but they stopped short of claiming responsibility.
The intefadeh began Sept. 28, 2000, after Israel's then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon, now prime minister, visited the hotly contested Jerusalem holy site known to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Palestinians called the visit a provocation, because Sharon emphasized Israel's claim of sovereignty. Violent clashes followed, and grew into three years of violence marked by repeated terror attacks against Israelis and Israeli military strikes into Palestinian areas. A total of 2,477 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 860 on the Israeli side.
Today, the "road map" peace plan, stalled but still on the table, offers the Palestinians a state by 2005 if the violence ends. If the violence continues, the result could be a complete collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
The Islamic militant group Hamas, responsible for scores of suicide bombings against Israel, marked the anniversary Sunday with a pledge to continue the uprising nonetheless.
In a statement released in Gaza, Hamas reiterated its opposition to the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan and called on the Palestinian Authority and the new Cabinet to uphold the Palestinians' right to resist the occupation.
In the West Bank city of Nablus, about 5,000 people from an array of Palestinian factions marched in support of Arafat and called for the intefadeh to continue.
Hamas supporters carried miniature versions of an Israeli bus and warplane to the center of town and burned them. Dozens of people dressed as suicide bombers wore mock explosive belts.
In Cairo, Egypt, nearly 300 people rallying to mark the anniversary called on the Egyptian government to open the door to a holy war against Israel, to expel the Israeli ambassador and to abolish the 1979 peace treaty between the two countries. The protesters were surrounded by at least 400 police officers in riot gear.
Israel says Arafat's Palestinian Authority has done nothing to stop suicide bombings and other attacks by Palestinian militants. In response, it has refused to deal with Arafat and, along with the United States, pushed for the appointment of a Palestinian prime minister as part of an effort to weaken the leader.
The first prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, resigned Sept. 6 after just four months in office after continuing struggles with Arafat over control of the security forces. Abbas' replacement, Ahmed Qureia, is a longtime Arafat aide unlikely to challenge him.
On Saturday, Qureia presented his Cabinet choices to Arafat for review and then gave them to the Arafat-controlled Fatah movement for approval.
The new Cabinet, expected to be approved by the Palestinian parliament in the coming days, appears to resolve the conflict over the security forces in Arafat's favor.
Security chief and Arafat rival Mohammed Dahlan has been left out of the new government. Instead, a longtime Arafat ally, Maj. Gen. Nasser Yousef, was to become interior minister, putting him in charge of the security forces, Palestinian officials said.
Under a new arrangement, Arafat will head a 12-member national security council that will set policy and work with the interior minister. Yousef has worked with Arafat for nearly four decades.
The replacement of Dahlan makes it even less likely the Palestinians will crack down on militant groups, as called for in the road map.
Israel has said it will not work with a Cabinet controlled by Arafat. However, Sharon has said Qureia will be judged on his deeds.
In a further effort to weaken the Palestinian leader, Israel's security Cabinet decided Sept. 11 to "remove" Arafat - interpreted as a threat to either expel or kill him. Sharon implied that action will be taken against Arafat if there is another major suicide bombing with heavy casualties.
On Sunday night, Israeli soldiers began searching houses bordering Arafat's Ramallah compound.
Israel's threat has greatly boosted Arafat's flagging popularity among Palestinians, but Sharon has attributed the recent lull in major attacks to the threat.
Palestinian militant groups are concerned that if they launch an attack they could be blamed for Israeli action against Arafat; at the same time, the groups have spawned small cells that could act independently, Palestinian officials said.
Earlier Sunday, members of the Islamic Jihad said a militant, Mahmoud Hamdan, 22, carried out a shooting attack Friday night on a West Bank settlement at the start of Jewish New Year celebrations. However, Islamic Jihad stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack, which killed Eyal Yiberbaum, 27, and 7-month-old Shaked Avraham.
Hamdan, from Dura, a village south of Hebron, was killed by Israeli troops during the attack and buried Sunday. He had been released two months ago from an Israeli jail after serving a 14-month sentence, his relatives said. They would not say why he was in jail.
The shooting at Negahot came a day after Israeli troops targeted Islamic Jihad militants in raids in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, killing four members of the group. An Israeli soldier was also killed.
AP-ES-09-28-03 1802EDT
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| Sun Sep 28, 2:20 PM ET |
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Masked Palestinian members of the Islamic group Hamas, some holding axes, carry a model depicting an Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter plane in order to set it on fire during a mass anti-Israel march, marking the third anniversary of the beginning of the current period of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, in the northern West Bank town of Nablus, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2003. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) |
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| Sun Sep 28, 2:22 PM ET |
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Masked Palestinian members of the Islamic group Hamas, wearing mock-suicide bomb belts, stand behind a model depicting an Israeli bus set on fire by the demonstrators during a mass anti-Israel march, marking the third anniversary of the beginning of the current period of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, in the northern West Bank town of Nablus, Sunday Sept. 28, 2003. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) |
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| Sun Sep 28,12:44 PM ET |
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Masked Hamas members set fire to a model of an Israeli military plane during demonstrations marking the third anniversary of the Palestinian uprising (intifada) against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank city of Nablus on September 28, 2003. Palestinians, some of them firing in the air, vowed to fight on against Israel until they achieve victory. Photo by Abed Omar Qusini/Reuters |
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| Sun Sep 28,11:25 AM ET |
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Palestinian members of the radical Islamic group Hamas, one on horseback and others wearing mock-suicide bomb belts, participate in an anti-Israel march, marking the third anniversary of the beginning of the current period of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, in the West Bank town of Nablus, Sunday Sept. 28, 2003. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh) |
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| Sun Sep 28,10:18 AM ET |
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Masked Hamas members demolish a model of an Israeli bus during demonstrations marking the third anniversary of the Palestinian uprising (intifada) against Israeli occupation, in the West Bank city of Nablus, September 28, 2003. Palestinians, some of them firing in the air, marked the third anniversary of their uprising for statehood on Sunday by vowing to fight on against Israel until they achieve victory. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini |
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| Sun Sep 28, 9:53 AM ET |
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Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) smiles in his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah September 28, 2003. Leaders of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah (news - web sites) movement on Saturday approved a new cabinet in a step toward ending political turmoil that has helped stall a U.S.-backed plan for peace with Israel. REUTERS/Ammar Awad |
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| Sun Sep 28, 8:33 AM ET |
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A member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s Fatah (news - web sites) movement holds a Rocket Propelled Launcher (RPG) as a boy carries the Palestinian flag, during a demonstration at the Khan Yunes refugee camp in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites).(AFP/Mahmud Hams) |
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| Sat Sep 27, 5:03 PM ET |
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Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas' political bureau, right, meets with Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2003, to discuss a possible prisoner swap between Hezbollah and Israel. In addition to Lebanese detainees in Israel, Hezbollah is demanding that Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. (AP Photo/Adnan Haj Ali). |
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| Sat Sep 27, 1:46 PM ET |
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A Turkish demonsrator holds a banner reading: 'Long Live Global Intifadeh' during a rally for solidarity with the Palestinian territories, and condemning the US-led occupation in Iraq (news - web sites), in Ankara, Turkey, on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2003. The Turkish government is considering sending peacekeepers to Iraq, but many Turks, however, oppose the deployment. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) |
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| Sat Sep 27,10:52 AM ET |
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A rifle lays near blood on the ground after two Israelis, including a baby girl, were killed and two others were lightly injured by a Palestinian man who infiltrated the West Bank settlement of Negohot, southwest of Hebron, late September 26, 2003. The Palestinian man shot dead a two-month-old baby girl and a man who opened the door to him at the Jewish settlement as Israelis celebrated the Jewish New Year. REUTERS/IDF/Handout |
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| Sat Sep 27,10:45 AM ET |
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Palestinian men mourn over the body of Hamas member Ibrahim Khali Abu Alrob, 21, at his funeral, inside a mosque, in the West Bank town of Jenin, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2003. Alrob died Friday from wounds inflicted when he was shot by Israeli forces during an army incursion a week earlier. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas) |
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| Sat Sep 27,10:38 AM ET |
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Armed Palestinian Fatah (news - web sites) activists, close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s head of preventative security Mohamed Dalhan, participate in a demonstration staged in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) city of Khan Yunis Saturday Sept. 27 2003. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) |
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US forced release.
RESULT: More systematic child murder because of the sick US agencies.
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