Excerpts: Palestinian majority favors eliminating Israel.Sharon traps
Bush.Palestinian timetable.Honoring murder.Violence 12 June 2002
+++JORDAN TIMES 12 June '02:"Majority of Palestinians now see Israel's
elimination as goal"
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
" A majority of Palestinians believe the aim of their 20-month uprising
should be to eliminate Israel ... not just to end Israeli occupation."
" 68 per cent ... approved of suicide bombings, down slightly from 74
per cent in December."
" 66 per cent said the occupation army's brutal attacks increased their
backing for suicide bombings."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------
EXCERPTS:
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (R) - A majority of Palestinians believe the aim of their
20-month-old uprising should be to eliminate Israel... not just end Israeli
occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, an opinion poll released on
Tuesday showed.
The survey also showed almost half ...believed ... Arafat would win
elections he has proposed holding early next year and that more than half
wanted reforms of his Palestinian Authority.
The poll by the Palestinian Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre (JMCC)
highlighted a radicalisation of views as 20 months of violence in the
occupied territories worsens.
The JMCC interviewed 1,179 people in the West Bank and Gaza in late May and
early June. The poll had a three per cent margin of error.
Fifty-one per cent ...said the end result of the uprising should be
"liberating all of historic Palestine," referring to British-mandate
Palestine.
. . .
Forty-three per cent ... said the aim of the uprising was to end Israeli
occupation and establish a state only in the West Bank and Gaza.
This compared with a poll taken in December in which 48 per cent said the
uprising's goal was to end the occupation compared with 44 per cent who said
the aim should be to eliminate Israel... .
Broad support for uprising
... Seventy-nine per cent ...said they back the revolt ... and 68 per cent
said they approved of suicide bombings, down slightly from 74 per cent in
December.
. . .
41 per cent ...gave Arafat favourable marks, compared with 29 per cent who
said he was a bad leader.
. . .
Fifty-nine per cent ...said the Israeli raids had boosted their approval of
...as, which opposes Israel's existence ... and 66 per cent said the
occupation army's brutal attacks increased their backing for suicide
bombings.
[IMRA: But approval of suicide bombers decreased from 74 to 68 per cent,]
.... 58 per cent said they supported domestic reform within the PNA, and
42 per cent said the best way to accomplish reform was through free
democratic elections.
Arafat was expected to win elections by 48 per cent of those surveyed.
Overall, 25 per cent of Palestinians said they trusted Arafat more than any
other politician, followed by 24 per cent who said they trust no one and
nine per cent who put their faith in Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed
Yassin.
+++JORDAN TIMES 12 June '02 "Editorial:Sharon's traps in the White House"
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"The US president sanctioned Sharon's argument that Palestinian reforms
are a prerequisite to the resumption of peace talks"
"Democracy never did and never will groots in a climate of occupation
and deprivation."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------
EXCERPTS:
... Sharon has laid yet another trap on the path of US involvement in the
Middle East. By falling into it,... Bush would jeopardise not only the
future of the peace process, but also his own administration's efforts to
restore stability ... .
. . .
The US president sanctioned Sharon's argument that Palestinian reforms are a
prerequisite to the resumption of peace talks ... .
Not that Palestinians themselves do not want sweeping political reforms.
They want them badly, and the sooner the better.
Not that Jordanians, all Arabs, and even Israelis do not long to see a
transparent, democratic, and efficient political system in Palestine.,,,
But making such reforms a precondition to the resumption of a political
process would be playing right into the hands of peace opponents.
First, it would harm the Palestinian reform process itself. Democracy never
did and never will grow roots in a climate of occupation and deprivation.
[IMRA: Israel in no way interfered with the Palestinians developing
democracy. By the way, the Arab nations and organizations did not notice,
much less condemn, Arafat or call for reforms.]
Second, it would again extinguish the light at the end of the tunnel that
the Palestinians, and all peoples in the region, need so much, thus
favouring militant extremism and further destabilising the area.
Third, the US would again lose credibility as a mediator.
There is already a precedent, another of Sharon's famous traps that has
already proven extremely detrimental to ... .Remember when Sharon first said
"peace for security," and managed to impose this notion on the Mideast
process? No one got security, leave aside peace.
Now, in addition to repeating that security is a precondition for peace
talks, Sharon has come up with yet another prerequisite. Palestinian
reforms. What other condition is he going to come up with tomorrow?
+++JORDAN TIMES 13 June '02:"Nonviolent protest"
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"The refusal of the US to set a timetable is consistent with its policy
to not reward terror."
"Palestinians can have a timetable anytime they wish. All they have ti
do is forgo terror and commit themselves to non-violent protest."
===============================================================
FULL TEXT:
THE JORDAN Times believes, as expressed in the editorial "Wrong message from
Washington" (The Jordan Times, June 10, 2002) that the United States is
wrong in not setting a timetable for Palestinian statehood. This view is
misguided, as creating such a timetable would assert that an illegitimate
means (terrorism) could advance legitimate goals (statehood). The refusal of
the US to set a timetable is consistent with its policy to not reward
terror.
The paper laments Ariel Sharon's agenda, while failing to see that
Palestinian terrorism serves to mask that agenda. If the terror stopped, we
could see, once and for all, whether Sharon is interested in peace or
expansion.
If Sharon responds to non-violent protest with aggression, then American
public opinion could take a sharp turn in favour of the Palestinians. But if
Sharon responds with a solution that addresses borders, refugees,
settlements and Jerusalem, then Palestinians might get their state. Either
outcome would ultimately prove beneficial to the Palestinian people. Sadly,
they are blind to the rewards of peaceful protest.
Palestinians can have a timetable anytime they wish. All they have to do is
forgo terror and commit themselves to non-violent protest.
[IMRA: Non-violent protest not needed if diplomacy proceeds.]
Victor Altschuld,
vhendrix@worldnetoh.com
+++JORDAN TIMES 12 June '02: "Murder charge reduced to misdemeanour in Azraq
crime of honour case" By Rana Husseini
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"first charged with premeditated murder. But the tribunal... brought
the charge down to amisdemeanor"
"The court sentenced Hassan to two months each for murdering his
sibling ... causing the abortion ... and possessing a weapon without a
licence."
====================================================
FULL TEXT:
AMMAN - The Criminal Court on Tuesday reduced a felony charge of murder
against a 31-year-old man to a misdemeanor, exactly one year after he killed
his pregnant sister, and let the defendant walk free for time served.
The accused, Faisal Hassan was first charged with premeditated murder. But
the tribunal hearing his case brought the charge down to a misdemeanor as
stipulated in Article 98 of the Jordanian Penal Code "because the defendant
committed his crime in a fit of fury and his family dropped charges against
him."
The court also reduced the abortion and theft felonies originally leveled
against him by the prosecution to misdemeanors for the same reasons.
The court sentenced Hassan to two months each for murdering his sibling,
Fadia, 23, causing the abortion of her pregnancy, and possessing a weapon
without a licence.
Hassan was sentenced to an additional month in prison for using the property
[the shotgun used in the murder] of someone else without proper permission.
The combined sentences added up to seven months, which the defendant had
already served, and therefore he was released from custody.
The defendant was standing trial with his nephew Ghassan Hussein, 30, who
was acquitted by the same tribunal of complicity in the murder for lack of
evidence.
Hassan shot and stabbed his sister to death on June 11, 2001, in the family
home in Azraq Shamali.
According to the prosecution, the defendant learnt from relatives that his
sister was pregnant out of wedlock, and he became enraged.
He and his nephew went to the farm where he worked, stole the farm owner's
shotgun and returned to his family's home, the court said.
"He headed to the room where his sisters was, shot her once in the chest
then stabbed her four times in the stomach," the court said.
Coroners had told the tribunal in previous court sessions that the victim
was 26 weeks pregnant.
The defendant then fled the scene, but turned himself in to police the
following day claiming to have killed his sister to cleanse his family's
honour, the court said.
+++JORDAN TIMES 12 June '02:"Israel stays in Ramallah" Sharon 'gets what he
wanted from Bush'
Agencies
EXCERPTS:
A PALESTINIAN bomber blew himself up ... wounding nine bystanders, after a
series of violent incidents that left four Palestinians dead and four other
Israelis wounded.
. . .
David Baker, an official in Sharon's office, denounced the bombing. "The
Herzliya terror attack is another example of the Palestinians' intention to
commit murder for the sake of murder," he said.
. . .
Ismail Abu Shanab, a Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, told AFP that "this
operation is a natural response by our people to the crimes perpetrated by
the Zionist enemy."
. . ."Israel cannot ensure its security by carrying out a policy of
blockades, incursions and liquidations," Abu Shanab said, without claiming
the attack on behalf of Hamas.
Earlier, in ...Hebron, Palestinians killed two fellow Palestinians suspected
of collaborating with the Israeli occupation authorities. The body of one
was dragged to the place where Marwan Zalloum, local leader of Al Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades group, was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike on his
car on April 22.
... The Al Aqsa group claimed responsibility for killing the suspected
collaborators, the latest of at least 42 to be killed by Palestinians during
the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. A leaflet from the
group said the two helped Israel spot Zalloum.
Nearly every night, small forces enter Palestinian areas and make arrests.
The Israeli military has said its raids are guided by intelligence, leading
Palestinians to assume that some of their people are helping the Israelis
single out suspects. Most Palestinians consider collaborators to be
traitors.
. . .
Near Hebron, three Israeli teenagers were wounded, one seriously, when a
bomb exploded as they were leaving a field after picking cherries. The 15
year olds, from a Jewish settlement ...were helping with the harvest. ...
In occupied Jerusalem, a Palestinian stabbed and seriously wounded an
Israeli policeman. The incident took place at Herod's Gate, an entrance to
the Old City. Police said the attacker escaped.
Two Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
One was shot dead by Israeli soldiers after he opened fire on a "civilian"
vehicle... . Also, soldiers found the body of a Palestinian near the fence
between Gaza and Israel. He was killed when a bomb he was trying to plant
went off ... .
. . .
In Ramallah, Israeli tanks encircled Arafat's battered headquarters. Israeli
commanders said their forces did not enter the compound, where three
buildings were reduced to piles of rubble last week ... .
Arafat was inside and unharmed, Palestinian officials said, as soldiers
built barricades from rubble and dirt on the roads outside.
Palestinian officials said Israeli troops detained Abdul Rahim Maluh, second
in commander of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the PLO
group that claimed responsibility for the assassination of an Israeli
Cabinet minister in October ...The Israeli military said soldiers arrested
30 Palestinians in Ramallah and found an explosives lab run by Force 17, an
elite unite of the Palestinian police.
. . .
+++JORDAN TIMES 12 June '02:"Israel destroys 6 Palestinian homes in
Jereusalem"
Occupied Jerusalem (AFP) Six Palestinian houses being built in annexed
East Jerusalem were demolished on Tuesday by order of the Israeli
municipality of the occupied city.
"These houses covering between 140 and 600 square metres were built
illegally, and some on lands where building is illegal," a spokesman for the
municipality told AFP.
"None of the demolished houses were inhabited," he said.
Dr. Joseph Lerner, Co-Director IMRA
| 
