Posted on 03/21/2002 10:30:07 AM PST by areafiftyone
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:09 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat condemned Thursday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem, promising to "put an end to such attacks" and work toward a cease-fire after 18 months of violence with Israel.
"We strongly condemn this military operation that took place in west Jerusalem today, especially since it was against innocent Israeli civilians," said a downcast Arafat, reading a statement at his desk beside a Palestinian flag. "We will take the appropriate and immediate measures to put an end to such attacks."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
"Al-jihad,al-jihad, al-jihad, al-jihad, al-jihad, al-jihad": "Holy war, holy war, holy war, holy war, holy war, holy war."
Michael Widlanski:
ONE KILLED, 150 WOUNDED IN NEW TERROR ATTACK IN JERUSALEM
BY ARAB WOMAN SUICIDE BOMBER
Sunday, January 27, 2002
An 81-year-old man was murdered and more than 150 people were wounded when a
young Palestinian woman set off a huge bomb in front of a clothing store on
Jaffa Road, Jerusalem's busiest street.
The huge force of the explosion damaged more than 60 stores along the
shopping thoroughfare in the second terror attack on almost the exact same
site, in Israel's capital city, within five days.
It was the fourth Palestinian suicide assault in ten days, prompting
contradictory statements from "the Palestinian Leadership"-the term used by
the Palestinian Authority for its official communiques.
Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority issued a short condemnation of the
attack on Israeli civilians on both its state radio and its internet outlets
several hours after the bombing, but only 24 hours after Arafat himself had
called for "more martyrdom" and for "holy war" in Jerusalem.
"To Jerusalem we will march - millions of martyrs. And, O God, Master of the
Universe, please let me be one of the martyrs." shouted Arafat to an adoring
crowd of Palestinians outside his headquarters in Ramallah yesterday
(Saturday Jan. 27).
Arafat's words in Arabic were broadcast across the Arab world by
"Al-Jazeera," the Arab satellite television service which also showed
Arafat, waving his right hand as he led the crowd in a chant-"Al-jihad,
al-jihad, al-jihad, al-jihad, al-jihad, al-jihad": "Holy war, holy war, holy
war, holy war, holy war, holy war."
"There's a definite connection between the attack in Jerusalem and the words
of Arafat in Ramallah praising martyrs and martyrdom in Jerusalem," asserted
an advisor of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
One of Arafat's advisors, Yasser Abd-Rabbo, refuted Israeli criticism of
Arafat, saying "The Israelis are experts at twisting words and at pinning
quotations on someone."
Still, Arafat's mixed message to different audiences was underscored by his
statement to an American reporter, broadcast today on Arab television, that
he was acting no different than America's Founding Fathers.
''Did you ever accept the British occupation of the United States?''
declared the Palestinian leader, adding, ''Didn't George Washington fight,
along with his people, until they freed the United States?''
There was no confirmed identification of the woman suicide bomber in
Jerusalem today, but Palestinian sources said the bomber was a 20-year-old
woman from Nablus. There was also no official claim of responsibility by any
Palestinian organization for today's attack which caused at least two and a
half million dollars in damages, according to Israeli officials.
The three earlier suicide attacks of the last ten days were carried out by
Arafat's Fatah Tanzeem militia, the third apparently a joint operation with
the Islamic Jihad.
Israeli security sources confirmed today that they had captured one of the
partners of the Friday suicide attack on a Tel Aviv coffee house. The man, a
member of the Islamic Jihad organization, had been assigned to fire his
Soviet-style Kalaschnikov assault rifle into the rescue workers as they came
to help the victims of the bombed-out coffee house.
But the Palestinian terrorist's rifle apparently jammed before he could even
fire a bullet and he fled the scene, leaving his rifle and his six unused
bullet clips with more than 20 bullets in each.
Israeli authorities refused to give details on the man's identity or on the
exact methods used by the terrorists in the Tel Aviv attack, but the
involvement of a woman suicide bomber in today's Jerusalem attack might mean
several things:
*--That counter-terror "profiles" constructed by Israeli security
forces-concentrating on young, unmarried Palestinian Arabs-might have only
limited validity;
*--That the Palestinian strategic situation was desperate enough that the
Arab organizations were now willing ignore the usual Islamic traditions
against employing women as fighters.
© 2002 Michael Widlanski, www.themedialine.org
Well Bush is just going to turn the knife back on them. The Palistinians will not be satisfied until Israel is out of the Middle East all together. All this talk is bull. Send Zinni home and start the clean-up process starting with Arafat!
If Jesus were here today, he would say..."Now is the time for him who has no sword, to sell his coat and buy one."
You will never convince Araft didnt ORDER the attack much less condemn it.
What else do you need to know to value his "condemnations"?
He doesn't mention that under the Oslo Agreement, now in tatters, that he, Arafat, is in charge of the "police" which is the only "military" the P.A. is supposed to have. And finally, he ignores the fact that the latest bomber is a "former" member of the P.A. police force.
All in all, I'd say that this is not a real "condemnation" of the latest murder of civilians by crazed Palestinians. I'd say it is the usual cr*p from a sack of sh*t with a towel on his head. I could be wrong, though.
I wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions, upset Colin Powell, or derail the "peace process," mind you....
Congressman Billybob
Only once. (-grin-)
If the order was ever given, it would takes days to execute - the guys would be holding a raffle to see who gets to do it!
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat expressed "strong condemnation" of terrorism on Saturday in an apparent attempt to satisfy U.S. demands and reinstate plans to meet Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Powell's mission to end 18 months of violence was plunged into disarray by a Palestinian suicide attack that killed six people in Jerusalem's main market on Friday, which prompted him to call off talks with Arafat set for Saturday.
White House and the State Department officials had demanded that Arafat denounce the bombing in no uncertain terms, even as Israeli tanks swept into half a dozen West Bank towns on Saturday in defiance of U.S. pressure to end their offensive.
A day after the suicide attack, Arafat complied.
"We strongly condemn the violent operations directed at Israeli civilians, especially the latest operation in Jerusalem," Arafat said in a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA and read on Palestinian television.
He also condemned "all acts of terrorism that target civilians, whether they are Israelis or Palestinians and whether this terrorism was state terrorism or by individuals or groups."
Echoing other Palestinian officials, Arafat accused the Israeli forces of committing "massacres and slaughters" against Palestinians during their 15-day-old West Bank campaign -- an allegation the army has denied.
Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rdainah said Palestinian officials expected the meeting with Powell would now be rescheduled for Sunday, but that they had yet to hear from U.S. officials.
A senior State Department official said only that Powell was examining Arafat's statement, which was issued in Arabic as U.S. officials had urged.
Arafat has been trapped in his headquarters in Ramallah surrounded by Israeli tanks since March 29, when the Israeli army launched a sweeping offensive in the West Bank after a suicide bombing killed 28 people in an Israeli hotel.
The continuation of such attacks, even after the start of Powell's visit, has reinforced Israel's resistance to Washington's demands that it halt its West Bank onslaught.
But Powell urged Israeli forces on Saturday "to exercise the utmost restraint and discipline and refrain from the excessive use of force."
TANKS ON THE MOVE
Tanks rolled into the towns of Arabe, Hashmiyah and al-Yamoun and the village of Birqin and imposed strict curfews on their inhabitants.
All four places are close to the northern city of Jenin, the scene of fierce fighting until Israeli forces finished off the last major pocket of Palestinian resistance on Thursday.
Troops also entered three villages near Nablus and Ramallah. The army said it had arrested 40 Palestinians for what it called "terrorist activities."
The new Israeli raids came the day after Powell met Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and pressed him to withdraw from the Palestinian cities and towns that the army has occupied in a drive it says is aimed at destroying "terror infrastructure."
Sharon has already ignored a flurry of similar calls from Washington, Israel's chief ally, and made no commitment to Powell beyond speeding up military operations.
Powell's mission got off to a grim start with Friday's bombing just outside the Mahane Yehuda market in Jewish west Jerusalem. The blast, detonated by a woman bomber, left the area strewn with pools of blood, body parts, shattered glass and charred fruits and vegetables.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a group linked to Arafat's Fatah movement, said it had carried out the attack. A senior Palestinian security official said it appeared to be revenge for Israel's assault on Palestinian areas.
Powell got a first-hand view of the carnage in Jerusalem from aboard a military helicopter. He responded by scrapping his meeting with Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"The secretary condemns in the strongest possible terms today's terrorist attack and expects Chairman Arafat to do so as well," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, echoing a stand taken by the White House.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Arafat aide, accused the United States of applying a double standard by denouncing violence against Israelis but ignoring what he called "massacres" by the Israeli army.
Arafat has struggled to perform a balancing act between U.S. pressure to crack down on militants and the Palestinian public's support for revenge attacks against Israel.
FATE OF MEETING UNCLEAR
In place of the Arafat meeting on Saturday, Powell met Christian religious leaders and international relief officials concerned about the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault in the West Bank.
The latest bombing raised questions about whether the army was achieving its mission of rooting out suicide bombers. A bombing on a bus near Haifa on Wednesday killed eight Israelis.
Powell warned Israel on Friday of what he called the long-term consequences of a campaign that has killed at least 200 Palestinians and provoked regional and international anger. Sharon countered by saying there "cannot be peace with terror."
Israeli leaders are normally careful to avoid alienating the United States, which provides the Jewish state with $3 billion in annual aid, but Sharon has made a career of testing the limits of Washington's tolerance.
At least 1,264 Palestinians and 452 Israelis have been killed since the uprising against Israeli occupation erupted in September 2000.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.