| Submit your comments on this article |
| Middle East |
| PA columnist tells terrorists: Stop firing rockets at Israel |
| 2003-01-30 |
| A highly respected Palestinian columnist has criticized the use of home-made mortars and rockets as ineffective and harmful. Talal Okal, who writes on a regular basis for the Palestinian Authority's daily Al-Ayyam, condemned Hamas for firing 16 Kassam rockets over the weekend. "This is an unsuccessful method in the ongoing confrontation," he argued. "The mortar shells and rockets that are fired every now and then have no impact and cause no losses. They also lack a deterrent capability." He's only condemning them because they aren't killing anyone. Reflecting growing concern among many residents of the Gaza Strip, especially those who live close to the border fence, Okal pointed out that these attacks often result in wide-scale IDF operations during which more land is leveled and more homes are destroyed. Okal said he couldn't understand why representatives of 12 Palestinian factions who met in Cairo this week ignored this issue, which is of great significance to the Palestinian people. "Why did they ignore the Palestinian public opinion and its wishes?" he asked. "Why didn't they pay attention to the silent Palestinian majority, which is opposed to some forms of the resistance, like the firing of rockets? Everyone is paying the price indiscriminately, whether they are the activists of the resistance, the members Palestinian Authority security forces, or the people." Representatives of families from the Gaza Strip have urged the PA to intervene to halt the firing of the rockets, but to no avail. The families have also published statements in Palestinian newspapers calling on the gunmen to stop launching their attacks from populated areas. They won't stop because they don't care what the people think. |
| Posted by:Steve |