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Israeli Army Fires At Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations
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| Palestinians ask for protection |
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, Dec. 29 (IslamOnline) -
The Israeli occupation army fired warning shots and tear gas at two pro-Palestinian demonstrations staged with the help of Western activists in the West Bank on Saturday,
as Palestinian leaders tried to persuade the United States to send special U.S. envoy, Anthony Zinni, back to the region, news agencies reported.
Some 1,000 demonstrators gathered Saturday at a university in the Palestinian city of Nablus and marched to an Israeli military checkpoint and called for Israel to leave the occupied territories.
They left the checkpoint area after Israeli armored vehicles fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse them.
About a hundred mainly Western activists were also dispersed with tear gas after they marched on an Israeli roadblock at the entrance to Ramallah and raised a Palestinian flag at an abandoned army position and dismantled old equipment.
In another positive sign, some 300 Israelis and Arab Israelis Saturday handed out food to villagers in the Beit Ummar neighborhood south of Bethlehem in the West bank.
They came in a convoy under the auspices of the Coexistence Movement with the authorization of the Israeli army, which has previously barred such actions.
Meanwhile, U.S. State Department has said U.S. envoy, Anthony Zinni, would only return to the region when he and U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, believe his presence would be effective in bringing about a ceasefire. He was recalled to Washington for "consultations" in mid-December after struggling in vain to end bloody confrontations between Israeli occupation army and Palestinian resistance activists.
The call for Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general who was first sent to the region in late November by Powell, to return came amid an easing of the confrontations which has raged for 15 months and Israel's lifting of its blockade on the West Bank city of Bethlehem late Thursday December 27-2001.
Powell held telephone conversations Friday with both Israeli Prime, Ariel Sharon, and Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, State Department spokesman, Philip Reeker said in Washington, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Asked about the possibility of sending Zinni back to the Middle East, Reeker noted recent remarks by Powell that the situation in the region would first have to improve.
Powell has promised to continue to intervene with Israel to seek an easing of the restrictions imposed on the Palestinian population, according to Nabil Abu Rudeina, an adviser to Arafat, Palestinian news agency (WAFA) said.
There has been a clear drop in violence since the U.S. envoy left the region, and there are signs that public opinion on both sides of the divide have found a renewed desire for peace.
Israel came into existence in 1948 after Jewish groups launched a war against their Muslim neighbors in 1948 and declared today's state of Israel. Arabs and Muslims believe Israel is an extension of the colonial period that saw the occupation of Muslim and Arab countries by Western powers.
Israel, backed by some Western powers, claims Jerusalem as its capital, but this is not recognized by Muslims or the United Nations.
The creation of Israel was the culmination of the Zionist movement, whose aim was a homeland for Jews scattered all over the world following the Diaspora.
Israel is also founded on a set of religious myths and rabbinical sayings that are staunchly disputed by Arabs and Muslims, the original owners of the land.
Much of the history of the region since that time has been one of conflict between Israel on one side and Muslims, mostly represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Israel's Arab Muslim neighbors, on the other.
Millions of Palestinians were displaced, and several wars were fought involving Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
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