ISRAEL - Palestinians call Day of Protest

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BBC

Friday, 30 March, 2001, 04:16 GMT 05:16 UK

Palestinians call day of protest

Palestinian leaders have called for a day of mass protest on Friday following a week of serious violence and Israeli air raids on the West Bank towns of Ramallah and in Gaza.

Friday is also Land Day, a day Arab citizens of Israel usually mark with protests over the 1976 confiscation of their lands by the Israelis and the killing of several Arab Israelis.

The situation in Israel and the Palestinian areas is already extremely tense. Fierce clashes erupted in the Gaza Strip on Thursday following heavy Israeli air raids on Palestinian targets.

Three Palestinians, two of them teenagers and the other a member of the security forces, were shot dead by Israeli troops.

In Hebron, Israeli tanks fired on Arab houses from which shots were believed to have been fired at a Jewish settlement.

The Israeli air raids were a response to one of the most violent weeks of the six-month Palestinian uprising. The last few days have seen three suicide bomb attacks, and the killing of three Israeli children.

Land Day

BBC Jerusalem correspondent Hilary Andersson says this year's Land Day protests are all the more sensitive for Israeli Arabs because of clashes in October, when Israeli police turned on demonstrators, killing 13 of them.

This has made many Arab Israelis sympathise even more deeply with the Palestinian cause.

Our correspondent says many Arab Israelis feel like second-class citizens in their own country anyway and complain that they are treated differently, not just by the police, but also when it comes to public spending on social services like health and education.

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, met leaders of the Arab Israeli community this week in an attempt to defuse tensions.

Warning to Arafat

On Thursday, US President George W Bush called for restraint by both Israelis and Palestinians.

Mr Bush urged the Palestinians to halt their violence and Israel to control its military response, to pave the way for a return to peace negotiations.

He said he planned to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday and Jordanian King Abdullah the following week to seek their help in defusing tensions.

The US president was particularly critical of the Palestinian leader.

"The signal I'm sending to the Palestinians is stop the violence... I hope Chairman Arafat hears it loud and clear."

Israel blames the Palestinian Authority for the suicide bombings and shootings.

The Israeli Government says that Mr Arafat's men have been working directly with the militant Islamic group, Hamas, and argues that the release from jail of a number of militants over the past few months has allowed Hamas and Islamic Jihad to launch their suicide attacks.

Since the Palestinian uprising or intifada started six months ago, almost 450 people have been killed - more than 360 of them Palestinians and at least 60 Israeli Jews.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001


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