BBC - Tuesday, 15 May, 2001, 01:57 GMT 02:57 UK
Israel tense for 'Day of
Catastrophe'
After nearly eight months of deadly clashes,
the Middle East is braced for more trouble as
Palestinians prepare for mass protests on
Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the
creation of Israel.
The day, which Palestinians refer to as
al-Nakba, or the catastrophe, marks the
anniversary of the mass displacement of
around 700,000 Palestinians from their land
when the Israeli state was created in 1948.
Palestinian groups have called for peaceful
marches and mass gatherings in the West Bank
and Gaza City, and for a three-minute silence
to mark the national day of mourning.
But fearful that the
day will spawn more
fighting, Israeli forces
will be on high alert
and troops have been
deployed to suspected
trouble spots.
"Most of our
intelligence reports
indicate that the
Palestinians are
preparing more violent
activities and not just
peaceful
demonstrations as they
claim," said Raanan Gissin, an aide to Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The militant Islamist Palestinian movement
Hamas called on Palestinians to pursue the
fight against Israel, arguing that "the enemy
only understands the language of violence".
Tensions worse
In a statement published to mark the 53rd
anniversary of the Nakba, Hamas said that
"armed struggle was the only way Palestinians
would recover their land".
The day is one of the
most emotionally
charged dates in the
Palestinian political
calendar.
Even a year ago, before
the current Palestinian
uprising began,
thousands took to the streets and more than
200 Palestinians were injured and four were
killed.
This year, after eight months of violence,
which has left more than 500 dead, the vast
majority of them Palestinians, tensions are far
worse.
'Dirty and immoral'
The Oslo peace process was meant to return
significant portions of land back to the
Palestinians, and in exchange they were to
stop all violence against Israelis.
But the land for peace formula has for now
collapsed.
The day is occurring against a backdrop of
increased bloodshed on Monday when five
Palestinian policemen were shot dead in an
attack in the West Bank.
The killing of the police was the highest death
toll in a single incident for almost two months.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat called it
"dirty and immoral".
"Israel must know that it will be harshly judged
over this crime," he said.
The Israelis also
launched a massive sea
and land bombardment
against Gaza, in
retaliation for mortar
attacks against Israel.
Palestinian Cabinet
Minister Nabil Shaath
says the feeling is one of desperation, but
insists his people still hope for peace.
"People are deeply hurt. They are really very
angry.
"They feel totally defenceless and they see
that this is absolutely not because of anything
they have done.
"This is collective
punishment of the first
degree, and yet
somehow, miraculously,
the consensus here is
that we have not yet
abandoned our hope
for a peaceful
settlement."
In Washington, US
Secretary of State
Colin Powell expressed
alarm over the latest
events.
"It's very disturbing that the cycle of violence
continues to go upward. We will speak out to
both sides, encouraging both of them to do
everything they can to reduce the level of
violence," he said.
There are efforts on both sides to get the
peace process back on track, but these too
are problematic.
Israel is expected to soon make public its
objections to the recommendations made by
the American-led Mitchell Commission, for a
freeze on Jewish settlement building as a
means of returning to peace talks.
-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001
BBC Tuesday, 15 May, 2001, 15:06 GMT 16:06 UK
Deaths mount as
Palestinians mourn
Demonstrations take place against a backdrop of anger
and bloodshed
At least four Palestinians have been killed and
more than 100 injured in the West Bank and
Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians
are protesting at the creation of the Israel 53
years ago.
Demonstrators have been marking the Day of
al-Nakba, or catastrophe, to commemorate the
huge numbers of Palestinians turned into
refugees by the creation of Israel in 1948.
Live gunfire rattled
through the air in
Ramallah where large
crowds of Palestinians
are confronting Israeli
soldiers. Ambulances
have been ferrying
away the injured.
The bodyguard of
Ahmad Yassin, the
spiritual leader of the
militant Islamic group
Hamas, and three
demonstrators were
killed in separate
incidents.
Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat earlier
went on television to
demand the right to
independence for his
people.
'Exile and occupation'
Mr Arafat said the Palestinians deserved a
state of their own and would not give up their
struggle to achieve one.
He said they rejected the "black destiny of
exile and occupation", and warned that Israel's
policy of "blockades and aggression could
never give it security".
A three-minute siren
brought Palestinians to
a standstill as they
marked the most
emotionally charged
dates in the Palestinian
political calendar.
Shops closed their
doors and people wore
black on the national
day of mourning.
Holding red, white,
black and green
Palestinians flags, thousands of people
crowded into Gaza city to listen to Mr Arafat's
speech played over public address systems.
'Missed opportunity'
Children carried huge wooden keys with the
names of towns and villages their ancestors
left in 1948.
"The road to peace is as clear as the sun, the
complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and
settlers from the Arab territories... and a
return of Palestinian refugees," the Palestinian
leader said.
He said the hour had
come for the
international
community "to wake up
to the injustice"
suffered by the
Palestinian people and
tell Israel to stop its
"aggression".
A spokesman for Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon said Mr Arafat
had "missed an
opportunity" to call
instead for a cessation
of violence.
The spokesman, Raanan Gissin, described the
Nakba as "the so-called calamity that occurred
because (the Arabs) failed tom destroy us in
1948".
Obstacle to peace
The BBC's correspondent in Jerusalem, Hilary
Andersson, says new violence could prove to
be another major setback to delicate
diplomatic attempts to end the fighting.
The Palestinian leader, himself, is holding talks
in Cairo with Egyptian President Mubarak.
Mr Arafat's second-in-command, Mahmoud
Abbas, is in Washington, where he plans to
meet Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Palestinian refugees and other Arabs have also
been holding rallies throughout the Middle East.
Israel is expected to soon make public its
objections to the recommendations made by
the US-led Mitchell Commission, for a freeze on
Jewish settlement building as a means of
returning to peace talks.
The Palestinians are reported to be planning a
positive response, and officials say it must be
taken as a complete package, not one from
which any party "has the right to select
whatever it wants".
-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001