Arab Leaders Blame Israel for Violence; Jerusalem Unites Summit

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10/21 08:32 Arab Leaders Blame Israel for Violence; Jerusalem Unites Summit By Cherif Cordahi and Patrick Werr

Cairo, Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Arab leaders meeting in Cairo blamed Israel for an outbreak of violence that has killed more than 120 people, mostly Palestinians, and called for responses ranging from holy war to ending diplomatic relations.

Representatives of 21 Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority are meeting today and tomorrow for their first summit since 1996 to develop a unified response to the hostilities. Yesterday was the deadliest day yet, with nine Palestinians reported killed.

``Our people are faced with a collective massacre,'' Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told the assembly at Cairo's International Conference Center. He called on Arabs to help the Palestinians ``achieve our independent state with Jerusalem as it's capital.''

Arab foreign ministers have already approved a draft declaration that reportedly condemns Israeli actions but doesn't call for severing diplomatic ties. Agence France-Presse today reported that the draft includes a call for the United Nations to ``guarantee the protection'' of Palestinians.

Some groups have called for Arab countries to use their power as producers of one-fourth of the world's oil to force U.S. and European leaders to pressure Israel for concessions. Crude oil for December delivery rose $1.05, or 3.3 percent, to $32.95 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange on concern about tensions in the Middle East.

The summit took on added importance last night, when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Israel would wait and see what action the Arab leaders take before it decides whether to continue the peace process with the Palestinians.

Mubarak

``Those who want peace should not have committed the practices witnessed over the past few weeks,'' said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who earlier this week hosted a summit that sought to hammer out a cease-fire between the Palestinians and Israelis. ``Those who want peace should also respect the rights of others and their sacred places.''

The desire for Islamic control over at least part of Jerusalem was one of the unifying forces throughout the opening speeches.

Palestinians say the recent violence was triggered by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon's visit to the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem's old city, the third-holiest site in Islam. The compound of mosques sits on the site of two biblical temples and is also sacred to Jews.

Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia asked the leaders to allocate $800 million for a fund ``to maintain the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem.'' He also sought $200 million to help victims of the recent violence. The Saudis offered to put up one-fourth of the $1 billion total.

``East Jerusalem is an Arab and Islamic issue that is not subject to concessions or bargaining,'' he said. ``It is not possible under any circumstances to surrender it. We consider it an inalienable part of Arab occupied territory.''

Relations

Abdullah also called on Arab leaders to break off all relations with Israel and tie any future contact to progress in Middle East peace talks.

``Any re-establishment of these relations should be tied to real progress, not just on the Palestinian track, but on all tracks of this process,'' he said.

Ezzat Ibrahim, vice president of Iraq's revolutionary council, called for a ``jihad,'' or holy war, against Israel. This is the first Arab summit at which Iraq has been represented since it invaded Kuwait in 1990. Ibrahim is attending in the place of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

``We call for an honest stand,'' he said. ``We call for the liberation of Palestine through jihad alone.''

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad suggested the Hezbollah guerrillas who have battled Israel in southern Lebanon might provide an example for Palestinian action. Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in May after occupying its self-proclaimed security zone for 20 years.

``The Lebanese showed insistence for changing the situation, and this is a message to the Palestinians on the West Bank and to the Palestinians who did not leave in 1948 that there is a lesson to be learned, that they can work to change reality,'' he said.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20World%20News&s1=blk&tp=ad_topright_topworld&T=markets_bfgcgi_content99.ht&s2=blk&bt=ad_position1_windex&middle=ad_frame2_windex&s=AOfGM_BbNQXJhYiBM

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 21, 2000

Answers

Violence Spreads Throughout Mideast Saturday October 21, 2000 3:20 pm

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) - Israeli troops and Palestinians battled at several flashpoints in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Saturday, leaving two dead, while tens of thousands of Palestinians marched behind the flag-draped bodies of four activists killed a day earlier.

Saturday's confrontations also resulted in more than 50 Palestinian injuries, and there were no signs that the recent fighting was abating. More than three weeks of battles have left 115 dead, almost all of them Palestinian.

In Nablus, the massive funeral procession slowly wound its way through the streets. A lead truck carried masked militiamen hoisting their assault rifles. Many mourners carried flags of Arab countries, in an appeal for support from an Arab summit in Cairo, Egypt. ``Oh Arabs, pay attention, the Palestinians are getting killed,'' the crowd chanted.

Opening the summit, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak blamed Israel for bringing the peace process to a standstill by ``terrorizing innocent civilians and killing defenseless children,'' but said Arabs would not abandon the path of negotiation.

Arafat said that despite ``the worst kinds of mass killings, shelling in addition to severe siege ... our choice is the choice of permanent, just and comprehensive peace.''

However, Amar Hassan, 28, a Fatah supporter in Nablus, said confrontation, not peace talks, will bring Palestinian independence. ``We should stop throwing stones,'' said Hassan. ``We should learn how to shoot, how to plant explosives near the roads.''

A stone-throwing confrontation on the main street of Hebron in the West Bank turned into an exchange of gunfire, witnesses said. A taxi driver away from the site of the clash was killed when he was hit in the head by a bullet, doctors said.

In a rare display of hostility aimed at moderate Arab leaders, Palestinian marchers at a Hebron funeral burned photos of Mubarak, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Morocco's King Mohammed VI and Saudi Arabia's King Fahd.

Those Arab leaders all back Palestinian aspirations, though Jordan and Egypt also have diplomatic relations with Israel, while Morocco and Saudi Arabia have close ties with the United States, Israel's leading ally.

In the Gaza Strip, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and killed in a confrontation near the town of Khan Yunis, and a rock-throwing clash broke out near the Erez crossing with Israel. More than 50 Palestinians were injured, according to Dr. Mouauia Hassina at the Shifa Hospital.

In Friday's fighting, nine Palestinians were killed and 103 injured, the deadliest day in two weeks.

The fiercest battle erupted Friday south of Nablus, where Fatah militiamen opened fire on Israeli troops just moments after an Israeli deadline for a U.S.-brokered truce expired. In an intense 10- minute exchange of fire, four Palestinians were killed and 27 wounded.

In response to the violence, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he would call an open-ended ``time-out'' after the Arab summit to rethink Israeli policy concerning the peace talks. Until now, a peace agreement with the Palestinians had been Barak's top priority.

``Time-out is not a slogan. This is what is needed,'' Barak said. ``We cannot go on with the peace process as if nothing has happened.''

After the Arab summit, the Israeli government may also revise orders to Israeli troops on how to handle Palestinian riots and complete its assessment on ``unilateral separation'' from the Palestinians, Barak said. In such a scenario, Israel would unilaterally draw a fortified border with the Palestinians without waiting for a peace agreement.

Israeli Cabinet minister Matan Vilnai said Saturday a time-out was necessary, but that Israel hoped to return to negotiations.

``At the moment, we lack a partner,'' Vilnai told Israel radio. ``I hope this is temporary. I'm not saying (our partner) won't be Arafat in the future. He is still the Palestinian leader. But at the moment, it seems that Arafat thinks he can get by force what he can't get through negotiations.''

Meanwhile, the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Friday to condemn the ``excessive use of force'' by Israeli troops. The United States, Israel and four other countries voted against the nonbinding resolution.

Israel's Foreign Ministry condemned the action, saying the vote ignored the mob killing of two Israeli soldiers and the desecration of Jewish holy sites.

The Israelis also criticized the Palestinian Authority for not doing more to restrain militants who ``use live fire everywhere, including against Israeli citizens, and send women and children to clash with us.''

http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/breakingnews/International/0,3561,4 98274,00.html



-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 21, 2000.


Did anybody think the Arabs would say anything but it was all Isreal's fault?

-- QMan (qman@c-Zone.net), October 21, 2000.

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