Rallies oppose Israeli occupation
Palestinians mark 40 years since the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict.
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Palestinians gathered on Tuesday in Nablus, and in Ramallah’s main square, down the road from an Israeli military checkpoint at the entrance to the main city in the occupied West Bank, for a rally to mark the naksa (setback) of 1967.
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“It is a waste of time rehashing historical background on either side – you have to deal with the realities of the here and now” Alibaba, LA, USA |
At the protest, near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, demonstrators held signs calling for the removal of the settlers. They faced off against 30 counter protesters nearby, who carried signs calling them “traitors”.
Separation wall
| Timeline: 1967 war |
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June 6: Israel captures Gaza Strip, defeating part of Egyptian army June 7: Israeli paratroopers seize control of Jerusalem’s old city; 40,000 troops and 200 tanks deployed against Jordanian army; West Bank and East Jerusalem taken June 8: Sinai captured and Egyptian forces defeated June 9: Ground fighting between Israeli and Syrian forces continues in Golan region June 10: Israel defeats Syrian army in Golan Heights. Syria accepts UN ceasefire resolution and Israel heeds UN warning not to advance into Syria |
Protesters waved flags carrying the face of Marwan Barghouti, the popular West Bank Fatah leader who is serving five life sentences after being convicted of murder and attempted murder.
The speakers at the rally included Jibril Rajoub, a Fatah leader and security adviser to Yasser Arafat, the former Palestinian president.
“If you think this wall has stopped the bombings,” Rajoub said, gesturing at the barrier, “you are wrong”.
“There are a million ways to get to Tel Aviv.
“It was a political decision to stop the bombings.”
Most of those present called for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory and a two-state solution.
Walid Batrawi, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Ramallah, said rallies will continue across the West Bank for the rest of the month, primarily in Ramallah and Nablus, and culminating on June 28 with the anniversary of the annexation of East Jerusalem into Israel.
Palestinian infighting
However, new fighting between Abbas’s Fatah movement and the governing Hamas, as well as the president’s failure to secure a ceasefire between Palestinian fighters and Israel, highlighted some of the obstacles on the road to an elusive peace.
Abbas, in a televised speech, said: “On the internal front, the cause of everybody’s concern is what is called the security chaos, or more precisely, standing on the brink of a civil war.”
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| Israeli soldiers conducted a military raid near Jenin [Reuters] |
In the West Bank on Tuesday, a 14-year-old Palestinian was shot and wounded in the stomach by Israeli soldiers during an operation in the town of Jenin, witnesses said. Medical workers said the boy was shot when soldiers fired at stone-throwers.
Israel’s military confirmed an operation was under way in Jenin. It gave no further information.
Israeli tanks and infantry pulled out of the southern Gaza Strip early on Tuesday, one day after launching the largest ground operation in the area in months.
The troops entered the sparsely populated area on Monday, pushing more than 1.5km into Gaza.
Soldiers searched from house to house, detaining about 40 Palestinians for questioning, the military said. Four Palestinians were arrested, the military said.
No major fighting was reported.
Omar Jarghoun, a 40-year-old-farmer in the village of Muamer, said troops took over his home early on Monday to use as a monitoring position, poking holes in his walls for snipers and destroying his wooden doors and windows.
Jarghoun said he fled the house before the troops moved in.
“We ran when we knew they were coming. We just left the house for them,” he said.