In a highly-anticipated and carefully balanced foreign policy speech on the Israeli-Arab conflict on Monday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to re-assert the American role in Middle East peace-making, reiterating the new Bush Administration line that it envisions a Palestinian state down the road, but stressing the first order of business is for the Palestinian Authority to stamp out terror, violence and incitement against Israel.
There were steady bouts of Palestinian shooting, mortar and bombing attacks since last Friday, with at least seven Israelis wounded and 13 Palestinians reportedly killed and scores more injured in “work accidents” or Israeli pre-emptive strikes and return fire.
Three Israelis, including one with dual American citizenship, were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in separate shootings and a school bus was fired upon on Wednesday, as the bullet-riddled ceasefire faltered towards complete collapse over the past 24 hours.
Early Wednesday morning, the badly mutilated bodies of two Israeli teenagers, both 14 and residents of Tekoa, in the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, were found in a cave along a dry stream bed near the Judean Desert community.
The widely divergent approaches of American and European leaders to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been on display in recent days, with a visiting US Congressman blaming PLO chief Yasser Arafat for on-going violence, while a Belgian diplomat has come down hard on Israel.
Iran is planning to host a two-day international conference this week called to build support for the Palestinian intifada, and PLO chief Yasser Arafat could be the guest of honor.
AMMAN, JORDAN (February 19, 2001) – Some of the sick and wounded in the latest Intifada (Uprising) in the West Bank, are being helped by a unique ministry based in Amman, Jordan.
AMMAN, JORDAN (February 19, 2001) – Many of the sick and wounded who have fled across the border into Jordan following the latest Intifada (Uprising) in the West Bank, are being helped by a unique ministry based in Amman, Jordan.
Iraqis Training to “Liberate Jerusalem” Two large groups of Iraqi volunteers began military training this weekend in preparation for fulfilling their vows to liberate “all of Palestine.” Last October, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein called for volunteers for his “Jerusalem Army,” to join the Palestinian intifada. On Sunday, the second group of several thousand recruits bid their families emotional farewells in Baghdad as they left for military training. The throngs of volunteers chanted, “with our blood and souls, we sacrifice for Saddam,” before kissing their wives and children goodbye. The first batch of thousands of Jerusalem Army volunteers left Baghdad on … Read more
Palestinian Authority Communications Minister Imad Faluji confirmed on Friday what Israel has known and attempted to relay to the international community since Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount in late September – that the renewed Palestinian intifada was pre-planned.
There has been no let-up in the intifada, as a Palestinian sniper shot at Israel’s newly-installed Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer while he was observing Palestinian areas from the rooftop of an Israeli military command center in the Gaza Strip on Friday.