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Journalism of Courage
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stuck to his guns on Sunday in the face of a personal appeal by US President George W. Bush to pull Israeli forces out of Palestinian cities.
Deflecting a call by Bush for a withdrawal from West Bank cities ‘‘without delay’’, Sharon said Israel’s desire to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties while sweeping for militants meant the offensive could not be hurried. ‘‘This, in itself, prolongs the operation,’’ Sharon said in broadcast remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.
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Bethlehem mass
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BETHLEHEM: Palestinian Christians held a service inside Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity compound on Sunday, surrounded by Israeli troops and tanks. ‘‘We have done a little mass for those of us who are in the chapel,’’ Father Amjad Sabbara said over telephone from inside the church. ‘‘There were 10 persons.’’ On Sunday, Israeli soldiers bellowed through hailers for Palestinians inside the church, some armed, to come out, saying they would not be harmed. ( Reuters) |
President Bush’s National Security Adviser said on Sunday that while Bush wants Israel to withdraw without delay, he understands ‘‘that it can’t be helter-skelter and chaotic’’.
The comment from Condoleezza Rice in an interview on CNN’s Late Edition came as Israel defied the US appeal. ‘‘…he understands it can’t be helter-skelter and chaotic. But he does expect this withdrawal to begin,’’ Rice said.
The Israeli Army said on Sunday it had killed more than 30 armed Palestinians in close combat in the West Bank city of Nablus. ‘‘There are constant battles — fighting in alleyways, from house to house,’’ Colonel Aviv Cochavi, commander of Israel’s Paratroop Brigade, said over the telephone.
In Ramallah, men in groups of five followed a Palestinian man with a white flag. Just released from an Israeli army camp prison, they walked down the main avenue into Ramallah, hands in the air, shirts lifted to show their stomachs.
Israel has begun releasing hundreds of the men rounded up in house-to-house sweeps of Ramallah. he dragnet was meant to capture Palestinians whom Israel regards as terrorists, but interviews with several freed men indicate their interrogations were cursory and there apparently was never any real suspicion they were involved in violent subversion.
Jittery Israeli paratroopers in combat mode, however, took up positions at an intersection and trained their weapons on the men. A tank and an armoured personnel carrier backed them.
Of people arrested so far, around 30 per cent have been released, security sources said. Some men had questionable backgrounds, but many Palestinians believe the army wanted large numbers to show success in its campaign.
Major General Giora Eiland, planning director for Israeli army, defended the arrests. Of the people arrested, he said, ‘‘many dozens are very dangerous terrorists’’.
In Washington, shortly before leaving on a crucial peace-seeking mission in West Asia, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday he will meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ‘‘if circumstances permit’’ and urged Arafat to call publicly for a halt to violence.
In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Powell said he would spend ‘‘whatever time and effort’’ is necessary on his mission to try and ease the crisis. But he said: ‘‘I’m not even sure I’ll have a ceasefire in hand.’’
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in the Islamic world on Sunday to protest against Israel’s 10-day-old offensive on the West Bank and against US support for the Jewish state. The biggest rally filled the main boulevards of the Moroccan capital Rabat.
