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Palestinian Intellectuals March In Protest
GAZA CITY, March 24 (News Agencies) - Some 400 Palestinian intellectuals demonstrated Saturday in protest over the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territories, Palestinian witnesses said.
University students, journalists and entertainment personalities first staged a sit-in at the Gaza City seat of the Palestinian legislature. They then marched to the outskirts of the flashpoint Jewish settlement of Netzarim, which has been a frequent site of clashes over the past six months of violence.
"Settlers, get out of Palestine!" they shouted.
"Arab leaders, boycott [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon, the Intifada [uprising] will continue," was another cry, referring to an upcoming summit of Arab leaders in Jordan and a Syrian call for a boycott of Israel.
Israeli troops fired in the direction of the demonstrators, but no casualties were reported.
A second demonstration against the blockade, organized by professional associations, brought 500 people to the highway between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem. Soldiers broke up the protest with tear gas, lightly injuring seven demonstrators.
An Israeli army source said a stone thrown by one of the protestors also lightly injured a soldier.
The army also used tear gas on 300 women protesting against the closure in the West Bank town of Hebron.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian source said the Israeli army had arrested a member of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction. They said 50-year-old schoolteacher Issa Faraj-Allah was picked up in the village of Idna, near Hebron.
In Hebron in the southern West Bank, a Palestinian was shot dead Saturday by the Israeli army, said Palestinian and Israeli sources.
The Israeli army said it fatally wounded a Palestinian near the Al-Arub refugee camp.
A military spokesman said the man had received medical treatment but died of his injuries.
Israeli soldiers retaliated to gunfire and the throwing of firebombs from the refugee camp.
The body is in the hands of the Israeli army, a Palestinian police source said.
The death brought the toll to 444 since the start of the Palestinian uprising nearly six months ago: 364 Palestinians, 66 Israelis, 13 Israeli Arabs and one German.
Several incidents were reported in the West bank Saturday night, in places that had been relatively quiet lately.
The Israeli army said Palestinians fired at the Psagot and Kyriat Sefer Jewish settlements near Ramallah and witnesses also said fire had been exchanged around Rachel's tomb near Bethlehem.
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