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| Middle East |
| Palestinian Public Figures, Intellectuals Issue Appeal to End Suicide Bombing |
| 2002-06-21 |
| A number of Palestinian intellectuals and officials made an âurgent appeal to stop suicide bombings,â in a statement issued yesterday. The signers included Sari Nuseiba, Hanan Ashrawi and Eyad Sarraj. The statement appealed to the âparties behind military operations targeting civilians in Israel to reconsider their policies and stop driving our young men to carry out these operations.â âSuicide bombings deepen the hatred and widen the gap between the Palestinian and Israeli people. Also, they destroy the possibilities of peaceful co-existence between them in two neighboring states,â the statement read. It also reiterated a position adopted by the Palestinian Authority stating that âthese bombings do not contribute towards achieving our national project that calls for freedom and independence." Instead the bombings, "strengthen the enemies of peace on the Israeli side and give Israelâs aggressive government under Sharon the excuse to continue its harsh war against our people. This war targets our children, elderly, villages, cities, and our national hopes and achievements.â Despite the appeal, a large segment of the Palestinian society agree that Israel's brutality and massacres, in addition to the international community's failure to provide any forms of protection to the Palestinian people are the main causes of suicide bombings. While some say that suicide bombings are not a strategy as much as they are acts of âdesperation,â others say that they meant to âembarrassâ Arafat and the PA. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |