Violence broke out at a number of spots around the West Bank Monday as thousands gathered in Hebron for the funeral of a Palestinian prisoner who died in Israeli custody Saturday.
Some 25,000 mourners were reported at the funeral, escorting Arafat Jaradat’s body from a Hebron hospital to a cemetery in his home village of Si’ir. Among those participating was Khader Adnan, a former Palestinian prisoner who was freed after going on a high-profile hunger strike in 2012.
The body was transported on a troop carrier with Palestinian security forces to Si’ir for a military burial.
A video feed of the funeral showed large masses of people waving flags and shouting.
Riots were reported in the village of Beit Anoun, between Si’ir and Hebron, just before noon, where some 200 Palestinians gathered, Israel Radio reported.
Protests were also reported in Beituna, outside Ramallah and near the Ofer military prison, where hundreds threw rocks at Israeli security forces.
Forces also clashed with Palestinians at other spots around the West Bank, including Tulkarem and near Tekoa.
Officials had been on high alert, expecting another day of wide-ranging unrest centered around the funeral. Some Palestinians called for Monday to be a “day of rage” on the Palestinian street.
The army said it would expend every effort not to worsen the situation and let Palestinian security forces take control where possible.
Day by day, Palestinian fury on the West Bank is stoked by one charge against Israel after another. The protesters of Hebron, Nablus and other West Bank towns and villages are in no mood to hear Israel’s version of the facts. Sunday, Feb. 24, Palestinian Authority officials alleged that Israeli mistreatment caused the death of a 30-year old Palestinian Arafat Jaradat in custody after taking part in rocking-throwing clashes with Israeli troops. Israel denied he was beaten and said he had died of heart failure. Israel’s forensic institute conducted an autopsy with a Palestinian physician in attendance with uncertain results. But the Palestinian street, demonstrating violently for the past week in solidarity with four Palestinian inmates on hunger strike, weren’t waiting. Tomorrow, there will be another trigger for protest and Israeli troops will disperse the rioters and stone-throwers with crowd dispersion measures.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials keep the heat up by accusing Israel of “murder, racism, and brutality.”
Clearly, Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his henchmen are prepared to risk matters getting out of hand on the West Bank.
Clearly, Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his henchmen are prepared to risk matters getting out of hand on the West Bank.
military sources estimate that if the current unrest is allowed to continue unchecked, Abbas will be swept aside by the turbulence. Faceless officers will take over and the force will break up into militias and the Palestinian Authority sink into anarchy.
Already Abbas’s relevance among the Palestinians at large is ebbing along with the welcome mat and donations extended him in most Arab capitals.
Even if Abbas does manage to squeeze another settlement construction freeze out of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, along with the release of jailed prisoners, and even revive the stalled flow of funds to the bankrupt Palestinian Authority, he will still face a tough impediment from the Gaza Strip.
To solve it, he would have to turn the clock back to November, 2012 and reverse a process launched then after the Israel Gaza Operation. The US, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Hamas and Israel, struck a deal, which ended the operation with a ceasefire and boosted Hamas domestically and internationally by ending the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip and promoting cooperation between the Palestinian fundamentalists and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Mahmoud Abbas clearly hopes that by fostering spiraling anti-Israel unrest on the West Bank, he can catch up with Hamas’s enhanced standing and recover a strong bargaining position for resumed talks with Israel in time for US President Barack Obama’s visit next month to Jerusalem and Ramallah. But he is skating on very thin ice.
This visit in any case may be postponed if Netanyahu fails to set up a post-election government coalition by March 20.
Already Abbas’s relevance among the Palestinians at large is ebbing along with the welcome mat and donations extended him in most Arab capitals.
Even if Abbas does manage to squeeze another settlement construction freeze out of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, along with the release of jailed prisoners, and even revive the stalled flow of funds to the bankrupt Palestinian Authority, he will still face a tough impediment from the Gaza Strip.
To solve it, he would have to turn the clock back to November, 2012 and reverse a process launched then after the Israel Gaza Operation. The US, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Hamas and Israel, struck a deal, which ended the operation with a ceasefire and boosted Hamas domestically and internationally by ending the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip and promoting cooperation between the Palestinian fundamentalists and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Mahmoud Abbas clearly hopes that by fostering spiraling anti-Israel unrest on the West Bank, he can catch up with Hamas’s enhanced standing and recover a strong bargaining position for resumed talks with Israel in time for US President Barack Obama’s visit next month to Jerusalem and Ramallah. But he is skating on very thin ice.
This visit in any case may be postponed if Netanyahu fails to set up a post-election government coalition by March 20.
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1 comment:
Current indications show BEARS starting a huge crash.....dow down
217...
bulls will fight back, but with a
HOST OF technical divergences against them, they are due to fail.
Many silly bulls JUST DO NOT REALIZE the are ALREADY trapped.
they will find out soon enough.
then comes the crash....
news now indicates that the false
prophet will be in POWER sooner
then expected. Conclave moved up
to possible 8/9 MARCH start.
very close indeed.
Stephen >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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