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Voice
Of Palestine Retransmits A Few Hours After Attacks
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| Voice
of Palestine defies attacks and retransmitts |
RAMALLAH,
Jan.20 (IslamOnline) - Defying an Israeli attack that blew up it's
headquarters, the Voice of Palestine radio has retransmitted, a few
hours after the incident, news agencies reported.
Broadcasting
from a private facility, the radio quoted nationalist and Islamic
forces calling on Palestinians to "take to the streets, create
human shields, and participate in the battle to defend the
resistance, the intifadah, and the symbols of our national
sovereignty", reported BBC's online news service.
Earlier
on Saturday Israeli occupation forces supported by tanks entered the
Voice of Palestine television and radio headquarters, evacuated it
and dynamited the building.
The
explosions sparked a fire that gutted the upper floors of the
building, said the BBC.
The
BBC quoted Bassem Abu Somaya, the head of the Palestinian Broadcast
Center saying that this "is another Israeli crime against the
Voice of Palestine and at the same time against the Palestinian
Authority."
Meanwhile
the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a press freedom advocacy
group condemned Saturday the destruction of the Voice of Palestine
building, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We condemn this reprehensible attack," said Ann Cooper,
executive director of the CPJ.
"By repeatedly targeting these media, Israel is not only
depriving the Palestinian public of news and information, but also
placing all journalists covering conflicts at risk by potentially
undermining their civilian status.
"Radio
and television stations are civilian facilities, and therefore
protected from military attack under international humanitarian
law."
In
another development, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said that
Israeli hawkish premiere Ariel Sharon is exploiting Palestinian
attacks to destroy the Palestinian people.
"We have to take into consideration that the Israelis are
looking to create friction between Palestinians," Arafat said,
speaking with the Newsweek magazine Saturday.
"We are doing everything we can at the political and security
level to exterminate this phenomenon of suicide operations. It's
obvious that Sharon finds in such operations a golden opportunity to
damage the reputation of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian
Authority, and to ... destroy the peace process."
Arafat
has been confined to virtual house arrest at his West Bank offices
in Ramallah since December 3.
Late Saturday, the Palestinian resistance group Fatah on Saturday
warned Israel against "any attack" against Arafat, who
remains confined in the West Bank by Israeli troops.
"We
warn Israel against any attack against Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat and we demand it cease its military escalation," the
group said in a statement released in Gaza City.
Fatah
also called on its "supporters and the Palestinian people to
mobilize," saying that Israel has "passed all the red
lines by positioning its tanks close to the office of Mr.
Arafat."
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