Flush with the sense of a PLO victory at the Durban conference on racism, the official Palestine News Agency, Wafa, has been broadcasting a flurry of outlandish charges against Israel, including allegations of forced starvation and the use of poison gas.
Saluted on Monday as “a one-man peace process,” Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres continues to press on with plans to meet with PLO chief Yasser Arafat in Italy on Friday, despite the on-going violence and the Palestinian leader’s broadside against Israeli “war crimes” at the UN conference on racism in Durban.
Israeli officials are anticipating the arrival today of a draft copy of the Mitchell Commission of Inquiry Report. A copy was delivered to the White House in Washington on Thursday. T
With CIA chief George Tenet threatening to pack his bags and leave, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat gave reluctant approval to the US cease-fire plan in a late-night meeting.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President George W. Bush expressed sharply differing views yesterday during a photo opportunity at their meeting at the White House. The brief exchange with reporters highlighted a disagreement over how to proceed with the peace process amid continuing violence.
Israel’s security Cabinet has decided to step up the targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists in an attempt to thwart attacks, despite US opposition to the policy.
The growing conflict started last Thursday morning, when Sharon ascended the Temple Mount on the eve of the Jewish New Year holiday to exercise his right to visit Judaism’s holiest site like anyone else. Sharon announced his plans days earlier, giving Palestinian and Israeli Arab leaders plenty of time to gather a hostile welcoming committee.
The demonstrations quickly spread on Friday and Saturday to Judea/Samaria and Gaza, where IDF outposts and Israeli civilians came under attack from stone-throwing youths, as well as gunfire from armed Fatah activists (the “Tanzim”) and even PA security forces. With casualties climbing, the two sides seemed close to a cease-fire on Saturday, until a tragic incident ignited the flames further.
The Clinton Administration announced today that Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to attend soon a US-mediated session in the region aimed at rooting out the cause of the violence. The clashes are Clinton’s worst nightmare, as he desperately wanted to avoid a Mideast flare-up just as his term in office winds up and US voters go to the polls to elect his successor.
The outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian clashes has been particularly intense around Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, a site of fierce fighting in the “tunnel riots” of 1996, with one Israeli soldier shot dead over the weekend inside the synagogue.
Violence erupted in Hebron late Friday afternoon, just as the local Jewish community began celebrating the Jewish New Year. Rocks and fire-bombs were hurled at Israeli security forces guarding the borders between PA and Israeli-controlled neighborhoods and burning tires were rolled into Jewish neighborhoods in the city.
Facing a mounting backlash in the Arab/Islamic world for his apparent tilt towards Israel in recent weeks, US President George W. Bush is reportedly considering holding his first meeting with PLO chief Yasser Arafat on the sidelines of the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in early September.
Worried that his own regime may be at stake, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has warned that it is “now or never” for a landmark Mideast peace deal over the explosive issue of Jerusalem and placed the onus on Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians.
Israeli officials have offered to assist the Islamic Waqf in shoring up the endangered southern retaining wall of the Temple Mount compound from collapse, but it appears the Muslim authorities have little interest in preventing a disaster that could spark a worldwide jihad against Israel.
A German member of the European Parliament said on Sunday that European Union funding for the Palestinian Authority’s education system should be frozen after he was confronted with proof of “anti-Semitic” schoolbooks in Palestinian classrooms.
As Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepares for what should be a warm reception in Washington on Monday, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres made an advance foray to New York on Thursday to head off Palestinian efforts at the UN to insert an armed observer force in Judea/Samaria and Gaza.
A nondestructive e-mail virus sent around the world yesterday to trumpet the cause of the Palestinians could lead to an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian cyber-war, computer security experts said Tuesday.
The United Nations Security Council has been holding marathon negotiations, but has yet to agree on a draft resolution ahead of the Arab League summit on Tuesday that addresses calls for a force of armed observers to “protect the Palestinians.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has instructed its missions abroad to make extensive use of photographs of the 10-month-old Jewish baby girl killed by Palestinian sniper fire in Hebron on Monday to show the world the brutal campaign of violence and terrorism Israel is facing.
After receiving clear backing from the Bush Administration for his guarded approach with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returned home amidst escalating violence on Thursday and swore to get tough soon.