[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Events in Palestine - 11 May

[Al Kagan]

FYI.  The first item is a follow-up on our discussion from 2 weeks 
ago on the cancelled UN fact-finding team that could not go to the 
Jenin refugee camp.  Note that Israel claimed they were biased 
because the were human rights experts!

>Delivered-To: akagan at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
>From: "PMC" <pr at palestine-pmc.com>
>To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:@linux.palestine-pmc.com;>
>Subject: Events in Palestine - 11 May
>Date: Sat, 11 May 2002 17:31:10 +0200
>X-Priority: 3
>Status:  
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>The News In Brief
>
>
>
>11 May 2002
>Palestine Media Center - PMC
><http://www.palestine-pmc.com/>http://www.palestine-pmc.com
>
>
>
>Find in Today's Brief:
>
>- UN Defends Its Integrity:
>- Extremism in Israel: Assassination Threats and Terrorist Attacks
>- Extremism Takes Hold in Israel: Assassination Threats, Terrorist 
>Attacks, and Broken Promises
>- Europe Takes a Stand:
>- Israel and the US
>
>
>UN Team Defends Its Integrity:
>
>Cornelio Sommaruga, the former president of the Red Cross, appointed 
>by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to be one of three members of a 
>fact-finding mission to investigate the Jenin refugee camp massacre, 
>stated that the commission members were disappointed they were 
>prohibited to visit.
>
>Regarding claims by members of the Israeli government that the panel 
>members were human rights experts and therefore biased, Sommaruga 
>stressed, "I think that it is impossible to dispute the impartiality 
>of the members of the team. Each one of us represented a different 
>culture and expertise. We proved, in various missions our 
>professionalism and commitment. Our professional advisers were also 
>very frustrated by that".
>
>He added, however, that the team wasted no time during their 10-day 
>wait in Geneva to begin their work, before Annan disbanded the 
>panel. They interviewed witnesses who reached Geneva from Jenin, 
>including representatives of non-government organizations and UNWRA, 
>the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugee camps.
>
>Sommaruga said that immediately after they were disbanded, the team 
>suggested to Annan that, "An increased presence of appropriate 
>international personnel in Palestinian refugee camps could 
>contribute to protecting civilian populations on both sides in order 
>to prevent developments like those in Jenin".
>
>He said he understood Annan's decision to disband the team, but 
>pointed out that they were "very disappointed. There was expectation 
>in the world, in Israel, and the Palestinian [National] Authority 
>areas for a neutral view of the events". 
>
>Extremism Takes Hold in Israel: Assassination Threats, Terrorist 
>Attacks, and Broken Promises
>
>Two of Four Israeli Terror Suspects Caught red Handed 
>
>Confirming what PMC reported two days ago, Israeli police announced 
>today that the four detainees are responsible for planning and 
>carrying out a series of terrorist attacks against residents of 
>Al-Tur neighborhhod and other areas in Occupied East Jerusalem. In 
>fact, new reports are now indicating that two of the detainees were 
>arrested while planting a bomb in East Jerusalem's Al-Maqased 
>Hospital.
>
>The Israeli terrorist group is also responsible for a series of 
>attacks against Palestinian civilians, which took place in the past 
>months, including the planting of an explosive device in an 
>elementary school in Sour Baher town. The attack resulted in the 
>injury of at least a dozen students who were in their way to attend 
>class.
>
>Israeli Terrorist Group Threatens to Assassinate singer
>
>An Israeli terrorist organization, which calls itself "Gilad 
>Shalhevet", threatened Friday to assassinate an Israeli singer, 
>Yaffa Yarkoni, if she performs at Saturday's peace rally, scheduled 
>to take place at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square.
>
>The threat was made in a telephone call to the Peace Coalition, 
>which is organizing Saturday's rally. One of the coalition activists 
>reported the incident to the Israeli police, who have reportedly 
>begun investigating.
>
>"Gilad Shalhevet" has claimed responsibility for a series of 
>anti-Palestinian terrorist attacks last year, including the shooting 
>attack in which a Palestinian truck driver was killed near the 
>illegal settlement of "Mishor Adumin".
>
>The singer was interviewed last week on Israel's Army Radio, where 
>she was highly critical of the actions of some of the Israeli 
>occupation soldiers during their recent West Bank military offensive.
>
>In response to the threat, the Peace Coalition called on "the 
>moderate Israeli public not to give in to the extreme right" and 
>invited them to show up in large numbers for the rally, which will 
>be held under the banner "Out of the Occupied [Palestinian] 
>Territories for Israel's Sake".
>
>Peres Reneges on Bethlehem Deal Before The Ink Dries
>
>Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said yesterday that his 
>country reserved "the right" to seek the extradition of the 13 
>Palestinians who were taken to Europe as part of an agreement 
>between Israel and Palestinians to end the Church of Nativity 
>standoff.
>
>Speaking in a press conference, which followed a day of meetings 
>with Italian and Vatican officials, Peres stated, "We reserve the 
>right to ask for extradition depending on the circumstances. You 
>have to remember that these are people whose 'hands are stained with 
>blood' and every country that agrees to take them should keep an eye 
>on them".
>
>"For example, if they are set free, then we have the right to ask 
>for their extradition. There are many possibilities", Peres answered 
>when asked about under what conditions Israel may decide to seek the 
>extradition of the 13 people. He added, "Look, to tell things as 
>they are. It's not a clear-cut juridical arrangement. Let's be open 
>about it. Namely, it's a political arrangement to overcome an 
>extremely complicated juridical situation".
>
>The Israeli Minister's comments aroused much discontent in 
>Palestinian and international circles as it seemed to renege the 
>deal reached and concluded only a few hours prior.
>
>Europe Takes a Stand:
>
>British MP: Its time for Britain to admit its historic mistake on Palestine
>
>A visiting British MP, Mr. George Galloway, said on Thursday 9 May 
>that its time his country admits the historic mistake it made 
>against the Palestinian People, emphasizing that they will 
>eventually win because they are the owners of the land. 
>
>In a conference organized by the State Information Service in Gaza, 
>the British vice-Chairman of the Labor Party's Foreign Affairs 
>Committee, voiced regret over the role Britain is playing in 
>resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which, he underscored, 
>holds a great responsibility for (In reference to Britain's 1917 
>Balfour declaration in which it promised the Zionist movement a 
>homeland in Palestine).
>
>Mr. Galloway stressed, "The Palestinian violence is the violence of 
>the victim that is trying to defend himself against the barbarian 
>attack by a very powerful giant." He added, "It's wrong to condemn a 
>child holding a stone in the face of F-16 warplanes".
>
>Furthermore, Mr. Galloway called upon the international community to 
>break the silence and stand against the Israeli military machine 
>that is being used by Israel against the Palestinian People.  
>
>Mr. Ziad Abdel-Fattah, the Head of the State Information Service, 
>welcomed the British MP as the man who has always been supportive 
>and understanding of the plight and suffering of the Palestinian 
>People. 
>
>The British MP also pointed out that while Former Yugoslavia's 
>former Prime Minister Slovodan Milosevitch is in prison for a 
>fraction of the crimes of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 
>"He  is in the jail house while Sharon is in the white house", said 
>Mr. Galloway.   
>
>Mr. Galloway also expressed deep disappointment with the 
>international silence towards the crimes committed by Israel against 
>the Palestinian people. "Given that Israel is the only country in 
>the world which announces publicly that it is going to commit an act 
>of collective punishment against a defenseless people, and every one 
>treats it as normal", said Mr. Galloway.  
>
>Prior to his solidarity visit to Gaza City, the British MP had 
>visited the devastated Jenin refugee camp. He also visited the 
>recently demolished homes in Rafah and the destroyed Gaza 
>International Airport as well as other demolished homes and sites of 
>Israeli destruction in the city of Khan Younis. "We saw people 
>picking amongst the rubble of a house that was demolished yesterday. 
>Another house was still burning from yesterday. Olive trees just 
>bulldozed yesterday. I think it is called rooting out the terrorist 
>infrastructure. We saw buildings paid for by European taxpayers, 
>demolished as part of the terrorist infrastructure. This means that 
>we the Europeans are paying to build you [the Palestinians] 
>terrorist infrastructure. Where are the European complaints about 
>this? Who else would be allowed to destroy infrastructure built by 
>our tax payers with such immunity", he questioned. 
>
>"We visited police stations, destroyed by the people who are 
>complaining that the Palestinian police are not doing enough to 
>control the situation here", he added.
>
>Mr. Galloway addressed the media saying that "if the international 
>reaction to much more famous sacred holy places in the West Bank, 
>then we have to assume that what the Israelis are planning for Gaza 
>will not provoke more interventional reaction in the world, and the 
>media has a big responsibility to show the truth of the situation 
>here".
>
>EU Envoy: Palestinians deported from Bethlehem are Not Prisoners
>
>The 13 Palestinian resistance fighters flown to Cyprus after a 
>39-day standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity are free men, 
>not prisoners and not deportees, the European Union's envoy to the 
>Middle East, Miguel Moratinos, said Saturday.
>
>Speaking to reporters after calling Cypriot Foreign Minister 
>Yiannakis Cassoulides to thank Cyprus for agreeing to host the 13 
>Palestinians for a few days, Moratinos stressed, "I want to 
>underline this pointŠ They are not prisoners. They are not detained 
>people. They have signed on a personal basis an agreement to go to a 
>third country." He added, "They came here on a voluntary basis. It 
>was not a deportation".
>
>Moratinos, who said that there were no plans for the men to remain 
>indefinitely in Cyprus, also emphasized, "This is not being 
>discussed. We hope we will know enough about which EU countries are 
>ready to take them. If not, and if we have difficulties, we will 
>have to raise the issue again but, in principle, no".
>
>A British military plane carrying the 13 deported landed at Larnaca 
>airport in Cyprus yesterday. According to Cypriot officials, the 
>deported Palestinians will be held under close police guard in 
>Cyprus until European foreign ministers decide which countries will 
>host them. One of the Palestinian resistance fighters, who had been 
>injured in the leg as he sought refuge in the Church on 2 April, was 
>taken to a government hospital and operated on shortly after 
>landing. 
>
>Israel and the US
>
>Bush sees end of Bethlehem standoff as positive development
>
>US President George Bush said the end of the Bethlehem siege "should 
>advance the prospects for resuming a political peace process".
>
>Bush called the development a positive one "that removes an obstacle 
>to restoring security cooperation" between the Israelis and 
>Palestinians. He thanked the European Union, in particular, for its 
>help in solving the standoff.
>
>Meanwhile, former US President, Bill Clinton, proposed Israel and 
>the Palestinians make an interim agreement if they cannot reach an 
>overall settlement, which the Palestinian leadership along with Arab 
>leaders reject outright.
>
>In a national public radio interview, Clinton stated, "They need to 
>say this is the way we are both going to behave over the next two 
>years". He added, "We are going to do our best to make peace, to 
>keep peace, and make progress toward a Palestinian state on the West 
>Bank and Gaza, toward security and acceptance of Israel, toward 
>economic development of the region".
>
>
>
>
>Sharon War
>
>Day 44
>
>
>
>Israeli Assaults Persist Despite Calls for Dialogue
>
>
>
>
>
>11 May 2002
>Palestine Media Center (PMC)
><http://www.palestine-pmc.com/>http://www.palestine-pmc.com
>
>
>
>Israel's Military Siege on Bethlehem's Church Ends
>
>Ending a 39-day siege of the Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, 
>where at least 200 Palestinian civilians, including clergymen were 
>encircled, Israel finally withdrew its occupation troops and tanks 
>from Bethlehem on Friday 10 May. Although Israel initially alleged 
>that there were approximately 200 "wanted" Palestinians inside the 
>Church, it soon became evident that it did not know who was inside 
>the church. In fact, a list that Israel once published of the 
>Palestinians it alleged were inside the Church had names of men that 
>Israeli occupation forces had long assassinated before the Church 
>besiegement. It was only once the Palestinians made a list of those 
>inside the church public that Israel found out who was inside the 
>Church. In fact, Israeli occupation forces proceeded to detain some 
>of the men's brothers shortly after it received the list. 
>
>Thirteen resistance fighters and security officers, allegedly on 
>Israel's "wanted"/hit list were flown into European exile, and 26 
>others were taken to the Gaza Strip. Seventy-three police officers 
>and civilians were set free.
>
>The freed Palestinians emerged into the hazy sunlight of Manger 
>Square, some waving or flashing victory signs, and others kneeling 
>to kiss the ground in a sign of relief and love for Bethlehem. Two 
>men were carried out on stretchers. By midmorning, all Palestinians 
>had left the church, but the standoff was not over. Ten peace 
>activists from the United States and Europe, members of the 
>International Movement for Solidarity with the Palestinian People, 
>who had slipped into the church on May 2 to serve as protective 
>human shields to the besieged Palestinians - refused to come out, 
>demanding a lawyer and insisting on holding a news conference. 
>Nevertheless, Israeli police officers later stormed into the 
>compound, removed them by force, and detained them ahead of 
>deportation.
>
>During the siege, Israeli snipers shot and killed eight Palestinian 
>civilians and security officers - including the Church's bell ringer 
>- and injured at least twenty-five others. Israeli occupation forces 
>also fired dozens of rounds and light flares on the church, causing 
>great damage to many parts, including two fires.
>With the release of the besieged Palestinians from the Church of the 
>Nativity, Israeli occupation troops completed their withdrawal from 
>the Bethlehem, the last city that remained occupied since Israel's 
>large-scale military invasion of the West Bank on 29 March.
>
>
>
>Two Boys Injured in Israeli Attacks on Gaza
>
>Israeli occupation forces conducted a series of attacks against a 
>number of areas in the besieged Gaza Strip, yesterday 10 May. 
>According to Palestinian sources, Israeli occupation forces opened 
>fire towards the residents' homes and a National Security Forces 
>outpost in Al-Shujaiyah neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
>
>Palestinian medical sources also confirmed that 14 year-old Ahmad 
>Al-Hillo and 10 year-old Ahmad Fares were injured during the 
>assault. Medical sources added that Al-Hillo suffered from severe 
>injuries, caused by a bullet wound in the abdomen, while Faress 
>received suffered injuries.
>
>On the other hand, medical sources confirmed that 20 year-old Ismail 
>Salleh died yesterday as a result of severe injury, which he 
>sustained during an Israeli assault against Beit Hanoun town on 3 
>May.
>
>
>
>Hebron Villages Suffer Nonstop Israeli Raids 
>
>Israeli occupation forces detained a Palestinian civilian yesterday 
>after raiding his home in Al-Issi town, west of Hebron City.
>
>According to eyewitnesses, at least a dozen Israeli tanks and 
>armored vehicle raided the town, surrounded, and opened fire at one 
>of its buildings. Eyewitnesses added that Israeli occupation 
>soldiers ordered the building's residents to get out of their 
>apartments, gathered them, then detained one of them, identified by 
>the building's residents as 30 year-old Nidal Al-Qawasmi, a Hamas 
>activist. The building was then set on fire after Israeli tanks 
>struck it with a number of tank shells.
>
>
>
>Israeli occupation forces raid A'zon Village, Demolish a Home in Tulkarem
>
>Reports from Tulkarem indicate that at least 40 Israeli tanks and 
>armored vehicles reoccupied A'zon village yesterday and raided a 
>number of the residents' homes.
>
>During their assault, Israeli occupation forces detained dozens of 
>the residents in the village's main square and began to interrogate 
>them. The town's residents also confirmed that Israeli occupation 
>forces demolished a gas station at the village's entrance.
>
>Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces continued to target the 
>residents' homes in the town reoccupied of Tulkarem. Residents 
>confirmed yesterday that Israeli occupation forces blew up a 
>three-store building, which belongs to the Odeh family in an act of 
>outright collective punishment to the entire family.
>
>
>
>Israeli Occupation Forces Raid Ya'bad Village
>
>Residents of Yab'ad village, near Jenin City, confirmed today that 
>Israeli occupation forces have raided their town and detained a 
>number of residents.
>
>According to the residents, Israeli occupation forces raided most of 
>the village's homes and detrained dozens of people, including 41 
>year-old Abdel Rahim Abu Baker, 29 year-old Mohamed 'Abadi, and his 
>two brothers Mahmoud and Loua'i.
>
>The village's residents also confirmed that Israeli occupation 
>forces raided the village's school.
>
>
>

-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
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