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| Sharon hints at new army offensive on Gaza Strip |
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| gift |
| 04/24/02 at 04:32:12 |
| [center]Sharon hints at new army offensive on Gaza Strip By Phil Reeves in Jerusalem 24 April 2002 The Independent[/center] Ariel Sharon may be planning a military offensive against the Gaza Strip, the heartland of anti-Israeli militancy. The Israeli Prime Minister told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that "terror" in the Gaza Strip was "ongoing", remarks that will seen by many Israelis as an indication that tanks and troops are poised to strike. Gaza is said by sources to be "wired" for an attack, raising the possibility of a battle that could dwarf the nine-day conflict that led to the devastation of Jenin refugee camp. Ominously, a senior Israeli army officer reported to the same committee yesterday that there had recently been 250 "terror attacks" in the strip. Amid international concerns there may soon be another stage of Mr Sharon's "war on terror", efforts continued to try to resolve the stand-off that resulted from the first phase. Israeli and Palestinian officials held their first direct talks yesterday, aimed at ending a three-week siege in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem where conditions have steadily worsened for the several hundred people inside the basilica. Israeli army negotiators appeared determined not to budge from their demand for the surrender of between 35 and 40 Palestinian alleged militants, so they can put on trial or exiled from the occupied territories. The Palestinian negotiators – who described yesterday's session as "constructive" – are pushing for a solution, proposed in the early stage of the crisis, under which the wanted men would be removed to the Gaza Strip, with the protection of international guarantees. Signs grew further yesterday of the deteriorating conditions inside the church, which is surrounded by Israeli troops and tanks. Despite the risk of being shot at by snipers, two monks climbed on to one of the compound roofs yesterday, brandishing a notice saying "Please Save Us". A spokesman for the Franciscan Order – which has several dozen monks inside the basilica – said it had filed a petition to Israel's Supreme Court calling for an order requiring the Israeli authorities to meet the humanitarian needs of those inside the basilica. Father David Jaeger, speaking from Rome, said he wanted water and electricity supplies to be restored, and for the army to stop obstructing the delivery of food. The order also asked for permission for the removal and proper burial of two Muslims, who have been in the church for days after being shot dead by the Israeli armed forces. The army says it has supplied food through the siege. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy, Canon Andrew White, said it had run out two days ago. While the stalemate continued, there were signs that attempts by Mr Sharon to isolate Yasser Arafat were failing. Although Mr Sharon opposed a recent visit to the Palestinian leader's compound by the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, his government announced last night that permission had been given for a visit by a delegation of senior European officials tomorrow. These include the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and its Middle East envoy, Miguel Moratinos, and the Greek and Turkish foreign ministers. The decision reflects Israel's desire to lessen the international ire over the destruction wreaked by its armed forces in Jenin. Mr Sharon is also making no secret of his misgivings about the United Nations fact-finding mission that will investigate the Jenin fighting. |
| Re: Sharon hints at new army offensive on Gaza Str |
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| muqaddar |
| 04/24/02 at 13:34:52 |
| [slm] It is interesting that whereas 100 of thousands of Palestinians fled when the yahoodi killed a few hundred people in 1947 this time round nobody is running away... a lesson that Shoor-an hasn't learnt |
| Re: Sharon hints at new army offensive on Gaza Str |
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| Anonymous |
| 04/24/02 at 14:00:15 |
| Some thoughts on Palestinian prisoners Posted on Thursday, April 18 @ 07:06:39 EST by RamallahOnline By Allegra Pacheco April 17th is Palestinian prisoners’ day – a national holiday commemorated for decades in honor of the all the male and female Palestinian prisoners who continue to be held inside Israeli prisons. Because of the siege, a call went out by the Palestinian Prisoner Society to place a candle in the window at 8:00 PM to replace meetings and marches. Two years ago, marches, hunger strikes and demonstrations which began on April 17th 2000 demanding for the release of the prisoners lead to the “prisoners Intifada” –the precursor to the al-Aqsa Intifada. The intense military clashes, the dozens of Palestinians killed, the anti-Oslo calls, were the writing on the wall of what was to come several months later in September. At that time, there were 2000 Palestinian prisoner and final status talks were being pushed. The prisoners were demanding that their release be included in negotiations. The Camp David talks failed and two years later we continue to commemorate April 17th. Today the Israeli military has added over 4000 more Palestinians to the numbers. In the last two-* weeks, the Israeli army has collectively rounded up Palestinian men from villages, camps and towns and shipped them off to unknown destinations. The army refuses to inform the families of the whereabouts of the prisoners, adding to the already intense psychological and physical suffering of the people. What will be the fate of these prisoners? Will the Israelis continue use their release as bargaining chips to get more land and keep more settlements? Perhaps some may be released but it seems most will be sent to administrative detention (detention without charges or trial). Another option is that they might tried as criminals in Israeli military court- their crime being objecting and resisting the Israeli occupation. The lack of military judges, the already backlog of the military courts and the overflowing Shabak interrogation centers, make this option unlikely at the moment. Now that PM Sharon has declared war, these prisoners must be considered Prisoners of War – and as such they must refuse to be tried by the same Israeli military system that has occupied and oppressed them for so long. What justice can there be in an Israeli military court and by an Israeli soldier acting as a judge using Israeli military orders to sentence these men: Up to two years for throwing a rock at an Israeli soldier, more than three years for political activism on a Palestinian university campus, 15 years for throwing a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli armed military vehicle, life for shooting at an armed Israeli soldier. As POW’s, there is no crime, no humiliation of military court, just prison and release at the end of hostilities, the way it’s been done in almost every place in the world. Marwan Barghouti, who supported the Oslo peace agreements for many years, who wrote in the NYTimes, that the way to protect Israeli security is to simply end the occupation, is now being interrogated by the Israeli security services for murder. The government has already decided to put him on trial in Israeli military court, before they have collected the evidence. The government is talking big, in order to cover up the blatant violation of int’l law of arresting an elected parliament leader of another entity. The white government of S. Africa also spoke big when it caught Nelson Mandela and put him on trial. He had founded the military wing of the ANC – he was S. Africa’s #1 terrorist and advocated armed struggle as the means to end the oppression. Almost thirty years later, “terrorist” Mandela became president of the liberated new state of S. Africa and almost every comrade with him in prison became an elected leader of South Africa. Maybe one day what Barghouti has said about struggle and occupation, will resonate like Mandela’s words from his popular autobiography: Mandela, at p. 166: “The lesson I took away from the campaign was that in the end, we had no alternative to armed and violent resistance. Over and over again, we had used all the nonviolent weapons in our arsenal – speeches, deputations, threats, marches, strikes, stay-aways, voluntary imprisonment – all to no avail, for whatever we did was met by an iron hand. A freedom fighter learns the hard way that it is the oppressor who defines the nature of the struggle, and the oppressed is often left no recourse but to use methods that mirror of the oppressor. At a certain point, one can only fight fire with fire.” Allegra Pacheco April 18th, 2002 |
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