Israel demands total calm

BBC ^ | Sunday, 28 October, 2001, 05:53 GMT | BBC

[mdittmar]

Israel says it will only withdraw its forces from the Palestinian towns of Bethlehem and Beit Jala in the West Bank when the Palestinian Authority has brought about total calm. The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, said the suspension showed Israel was not interested in a genuine peace.

"The Israeli army was supposed to withdraw Saturday night. This decision is part of a policy destined not to end in a real peace," he said.

The BBC's Stephen Gibb in Jerusalem says Saturday night's proposed withdrawal was supposed to be a test case for a wider pull-back by Israel from the other Palestinian areas it reoccupied following the assassination earlier this month of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.

Fighting began in Bethlehem shortly after Israeli and Palestinian security officials held a meeting to discuss the logistics of the Israeli pullout.

Witnesses said one of the Israeli tanks fired several shells, and that Palestinians replied with machine-gun fire. Hospital sources said four Palestinians were injured in the clashes.

Pressure

It is unclear for how long the withdrawal has been cancelled. Israel remains under international pressure, notably from the United States, to leave the Palestinian-controlled areas as soon as possible.

A Palestinian minister has warned that if there is not a complete withdrawal within days, the Palestinian ceasefire will be called off.

Raanan Gissin, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the withdrawal would take place when there was "a complete ceasefire in the Beit Jala and Bethlehem areas". He added: "That hasn't happened."

The proposed withdrawal was announced on Friday after Israeli and Palestinian officials reached agreement on security measures.

More than 40 Palestinians have been killed during the Israeli incursions, many of them in the village of Beit Rima.

In Tulkarem, another West Bank town Israel occupied last week, a member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fateh movement was reported to have been shot and killed on Saturday in a clash with Israeli forces.

[mdittmar]

The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, said the suspension showed Israel was not interested in a genuine peace.

Hey yasser, I've read your speeches from years ago: I will not quit until Israel is wiped from the Earth.(paraphrasing).

In the words of the peaceniks:

Hey,Hey,Ho,Ho,Arafat has got to go!

[mississippi red-neck]

it worked for hitler

If you want to know about Hilter ask Arafat his grandfather was Hilter's man in the middle east. Like grandfather like son.

[mdittmar]

HA,HA,HA,WHOOO,WHHAAA,your post has to be the #1 dumbest post I've ever read.

I'm laughing so hard I can barely tyue,oops, type,see.

You are a total Ha,ha,ha,Whoo,stop your killing me,Whaaaaaa....

[eclectic]

I have noticed that all these anti-Semite propagandists on FR have similiar aliases: virgil123, fred25, damian5, candyman34. Interesting, is not it?

[monkeyshine]

Interesting. Those numbers are all mystical illuminati numbers, too. 23 (2+3=5), 25 (2 5's), 5, 34 (3x4=12-(3+4)=5). Yes, 5 is a magical illuninati number. Coincidence?

[Cachelot]

Coincidence?

Who knows? The new Nazis have several number combos they like: 14, for "14 words", 14 words about their racial goal. 88 for 2 x H, Heil Hitler. And on and on. Sort of a secret handshake.

[meenie]

The intafada is suspended for now.

[Cachelot]

The intafada is suspended for now.

Thanks for the tip. But don't shirk your duties, man. Were you not supposed to take this message to Arafat? Dumping it at my doorstep, that's just lazy ;).

[monkeyshine]

14, eh? 1+4=5. 88? 8x8=64 6+4=10=2x5

[monkeyshine]

8+8=16 6-1=5

[Gumption]

I'm still waiting to see ONE legitimate criticism of the Israeli position. Do you have one that doesn't include undoing something that happened 30, 60, or 2000 years ago?

[Sabramerican]

Palestinian town of Bethlehem

Could someone explain to me why a "Palestinian" town has a Hebrew name? The same name for thousands of years.

[Gumption]

I have no idea why your reply was deleted, unless it was because of your extremely poor grammar and/or spelling.

[monkeyshine]

Could someone explain to me why a "Palestinian" town [Bethlehem] has a Hebrew name?

ROFL. No, I can't explain why. I guess since the Romans ran the Jews out, and then the Muslims ran the Christians out, that they thought they could take it as their own. Maybe they will change the name to "Binladem".

[Thinkin' Gal]

To: DrTruthseeker

I have no idea why your reply was deleted, unless it was because of your extremely poor grammar and/or spelling.

DrTruthseeker doesn't exist and never has existed.

[Skywalk]

DrTruthSeeker's post was deleted because HE was banned. I suspect that Iwontshutup is the same person(hence the name) He posted an article from an anti-Semite, racist organization. The name National Alliance may not mean much to most of us, but it is DEFINITELY a neo-Nazi kind of group.

My request to have his thread deleted was met. I suspect that Iwontshutup will be banned as well. Apparently, he thinks Aryan groups are a credible source of information. Granted, the article didn't sound any different than LLAN_DEUSANT, Fred25 and many others.