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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | ||
| Palestinians seek UN protection after Hebron clashes | ||
| 2008-12-06 | ||
(AKI) - The Palestinian Authority's acting Foreign Minister said he will ask the United Nations Security Council to send international peacekeeping troops to the West Bank. "We will ask the (UN) Security Council to send an armed force to protect our Palestinian people, particularly in Hebron," said Foreign Minister Riad Malki in a media conference in the Palestinian city of Ramallah on Friday.
Following the forced evacuation on Thursday of hardline settlers from Hebron's 'house of contention' or 'house of peace' as the settlers call it, Israeli rioters ran amok. They began desecrating Muslim graves, throwing stones, setting Palestinian cars, homes and fields on fire and in one case, firing live ammunition. Malki also said that 30 Palestinians were injured in the violence, five with gunshot wounds. After the violence, more than 500 Israeli police and border policemen were deployed to Hebron and the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba. Also on Friday, the UN's envoy to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the PA, applauded the eviction of the Hebron settlers by Israel but condemned settler violence against Palestinians. "I condemn the ensuing violence and attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and the destruction and desecration of Palestinian property," said Robert Serry. "As the occupying power, the Government of Israel is under obligation to protect Palestinian civilians, property and holy sites,' the UN representative to the Palestinian areas."
About 500 settlers live in enclaves in central Hebron in an area under Israeli military control. The town also has around 170,000 Palestinian inhabitants. The settlers have vowed to avenge the forceful evacuation. "We will choose the timing and the hour to respond," an activist told Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. "In the game between cat and mouse, the mouse, who is smaller and more nimble, always wins and knows every tunnel and hole," said the settler. Some religious Israeli settlers consider the West Bank part of the biblical land of Israel and thus claim a God-given right to own the land. However, the settlers claim they lawfully purchased the 'house of contention' from a Palestinian and Hebron resident named Faiz Rajabi. Rajabi says the building belongs to him and denied having sold it to the settlers. "Thank God, the building has returned to its owners and I hope they will not come back," Rajabi said, quoted by Arab TV network Al-Jazeera. | ||
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Following the forced evacuation on Thursday of hardline settlers from Hebron's 'house of contention' or 'house of peace' as the settlers call it, Israeli rioters ran amok. They began desecrating Muslim graves, throwing stones, setting Palestinian cars, homes and fields on fire and in one case, firing live ammunition. It's a hard life, ain't it? Sucks to be the victim of violence, doesn't it? I still don't think they have put 2+2 together. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-12-06 08:26 |
| #1 The World we live in, they'll get it. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-12-06 03:19 |