|
Palestinian hunger strike is 'jihad'
What isn't?A leading Palestinian Muslim cleric said on Monday that a hunger strike by nearly 3000 Palestinian prisoners was a form of jihad, or Islamic holy struggle, and any who die will be considered martyrs. "This is a type of legitimate jihad," Sheikh Tayseer al-Tamimi, head of the Higher Council for Islamic Jurisprudence, told family members of the prisoners. "If any one of them is martyred, God forbid, it will be as if he were martyred on the field of battle and the occupation authority will be considered the true killer." That's "Zionist Authority", holy man. Get your Struggle terms straight, willya? Around 2800 prisoners, seen by Palestinians as symbols of resistance to Israeli occupation, are refusing food to demand wardens stop strip searches, allow more frequent family visits, improve sanitation and install public telephones. Israeli officials call the liquids-only fast that began on August 15 with 1500 hunger strikers a ploy by prisoners to secure easier communication with militant groups waging a nearly four-year-old uprising. About 7000 Palestinians, excluding common criminals, are held in Israeli jails. There's a difference? Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Korei said Palestinians would ask the United Nations to hold a special session to discuss the prisoners, and blamed Israel for any potential harm to them. "Israel bears full responsibility of any dangers that could harm the strugglers," Korei told reporters. Ooooh, the UN. Next stop, the Arab League? Posted by: tu3031 2004-08-23 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=41365 |