Madina Archives

Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board

Palestinian reaction to the Arab summit
Arsalan
10/23/00 at 10:46:23
Palestinians hang their heads after Arab summit fails to deliver OCCUPIED AL-QUDS: The apparently powerless Arab summit has left many Palestinians - who already had low expectations for the Cairo meeting - all the more convinced on Sunday that only their stones and armed militias have been sincerely working to bring an end to Israeli occupation. "This summit shows the difference between the Arab people who want war against Israel and to stand by the Palestinians, and the Arab leaders who only want American money and their economies not to be affected," said Ahmed, a Palestinian who said he has closely followed the proceeding of the two-day Arab summit. Many Palestinians, who said they were determined to continue with their bloody three-week uprising (intifada) under the banner of Jerusalems al-Aqsa mosque, said the first Arab summit in four years has done nothing to help their cause. "The situations can only be improved by the hands of the Palestinian people. We are the only ones defending our interests," Ahmed added. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was 'happy' that the summit threw strong support behind the uprising but was disappointed that no commitment was made to boycott the Jewish state, aides said in Cairo. "Arafat is happy with the political support he got from the summit," said the official who asked not to be named, citing Arab backing for the intifada and the Palestinians' demand for east Jerusalem as their capital. "Generally the meeting was good. You can feel more Arab unity," he said. Israel welcomed the relative inaction of the Arab summit, calling it "a victory of wisdom in the Arab world". Israel was particularly relieved that Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab nations to have signed peace treaties with the Jewish state, did not sever their hard-fought accords in response to the intifada that has left some 130 people dead, nearly all of them Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak also paid tribute to President Hosni Mubarak of host-country Egypt, lauding his responsibility and commitment to peace in the Middle East. Sixty two-year-old Mohammed, sitting on a corner outside a money changers in the Arab quarter of Jerusalem, shook his head disappointedly and said: "the Arab goal is to keep the peace process going because they don't see a war with Israel in their interests, but the Arab streets want war." Many Palestinians specifically blamed Egypt and Jordan for preventing the summit from taking a tougher stance against Israel, not understanding why they did not at least try to hurt Israels economy, if not declare war. "I understand they don't want war with Israel, but if the 22 Arab nations spoke in one voice and used the oil weapon, then the world and America would listen and force Israel to stop its aggressions against the Palestinians," said Daoud Tutah, a 20-year-old university student. "They just want to give money and forget about the Palestinians. We don't want their money, but actions. Why didn't they cut relations? Why didn't they break peace treaties? This summit was worth zero," said his classmate Hassan. Although the Arab summit has pledged to set up a billion dollar fund to aid the Palestinians, an unnamed Palestinian official in Cairo said he was disappointed the summit did not provide immediate relief. "The Arab summit has its decisions, but the decisions of the Arab people have not yet been taken and will be seen on the streets," said Tutah.

Re: Palestinian reaction to the Arab summit
Saleema
10/23/00 at 15:35:59
Assalamoalykum, Mubarak and King Abdullah need to be kicked out of office or assasinated or tried in court as traitors to the Muslims and doing nothing to prevent their suffering. Aaahhhhhhh...makes you wish for the Islamic State. wassalam

Re: Palestinian reaction to the Arab summit
Arsalan
10/23/00 at 18:40:05
I'm surprised you only mentioned those two names!!! Wassalamu alaikum.

Sharon names his price for propping up Barak
SuperHiMY
10/24/00 at 05:31:34
AsalamAlayKum... I found this article from the Independent Newspaper in The U.K. useful: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Middle_East/2000-10/israel241000.shtml By Raymond Whitaker in Jerusalem 24 October 2000 Ehud Barak, Israel's beleaguered Prime Minister, turned for political support yesterday to the man largely responsible for his troubles, Ariel Sharon. The price being demanded by the hardline Likud leader could not only do irreparable damage to the seven-year peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, but could inflame further violence on the streets. Two Palestinians died yesterday from wounds sustained earlier in the 26-day-old uprising, which began after Mr Sharon's visit to Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem's old city, one of Islam's holiest sites. A roadside bomb exploded last night as a convoy of Israeli cars drove by in the Gaza Strip. Israeli television described the explosion as "very powerful". The Israeli army later said there had been no casualties. So far 127 lives have been lost in the uprising, and there were more clashes in the West Bank and Gaza in the wake of a heavy exchange of fire overnight on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The Israeli army imposed a blockade on Beit Jala, a hillside community bordering Bethlehem, after shots were fired at the Jewish settlement of Gilo, bringing machine-gun and missile fire in return from Israeli tanks and helicopters. The international airport in Gaza, reopened by Israel as a confidence-building measure after last week's Sharm el- Sheikh ceasefire talks, was closed once more. Not only is there no immediate prospect of a ceasefire, Mr Barak has declared a "time-out" in the peace process, a move aimed at appeasing Mr Sharon. But the Likud leader is reported to be demanding much more, including the job of Deputy Prime Minister, abandonment of agreements with the Palestinians made at Camp David in July and a veto on future peace moves. Talks between the parties ended without agreement, but a Likud spokeswoman said there would be another meeting today. Mr Barak is racing against time to put together an emergency coalition government before the Knesset returns at the weekend. His One Israel alliance has only 30 seats in the 120-seat legislature, and he could be forced to call an early election if he cannot do a deal with Likud. But the Prime Minister may be using the threat of Mr Sharon's return to government to put pressure on his own Cabinet and persuade smaller parties, such as the liberal Meretz, with which he is also talking, to avoid bringing down his government. Mr Barak's suspension of the peace process has been criticised by some of his colleagues, including the Justice Minister, Yossi Beilin, who said he would not participate in a unity government that gave Mr Sharon a veto over a peace deal. Such a government, he said, "would make the prospect of peace more distant and undermine the belief in the world that we really do want tomake peace".
Individual posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Jannah.org, Islam, or all Muslims. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the poster and may not be used without consent of the author. The rest © Jannah.Org