 |
|
Palestinians
detained by Israeli occupation forces
|
AL-KHALIL,
West Bank, September 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The
Israeli army swept a Palestinian town near the West Bank city of
al-Khalil (Hebron) Friday night, September 13, in what it claimed was
a search for resistance activists ahead of the Yom Kippur Jewish
holiday Sunday. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) Saturday,
September 14, 2002, hailed a first ever meeting between one of their
top negotiators and U.S. President George W. Bush, as U.S. officials
played down the encounter as just a courtesy handshake.
Israeli
occupation troops took over the municipality and five other buildings
in the town of Yatta, some eight kilometers (five miles) south of
al-Khalil, evicting the people inside, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
They
closed off all entry roads to Yatta and used bulldozers to block its
streets with huge piles of rubbish while they conducted house-to-house
searches.
Israeli
sources confirmed the overnight operation, saying the army was
searching for "troublemakers" in the run-up to the Yom
Kippur holiday, the holiest in the Jewish calendar. By
"troublemakers", Israeli officials mean Palestinians
resisting the illegal occupation and humiliation imposed on them by
Israeli forces, equipped with sophisticated U.S.-made weapons.
"Troops
have gone into Yatta to search for militants and troublemakers before
the holiday in order to ensure there are no clashes," an Israeli
army official told AFP.
The
official said Yatta was a stronghold of resistance groups which might
target the large number of Jewish pilgrims expected to travel to the
Tomb of Patriarchs, a contested religious site in nearby al-Khalil,
for the holiday.
"We
are searching for people who might want to try and sabotage the
prayers at the Tomb," he said, adding further searches were
likely to be conducted in other villages in the area.
The
army abducted 17 Palestinians in Yatta, a town of some 40,000 people,
earlier this week.
Israeli
troops were also deployed in force in central al-Khalil Saturday,
using tear-gas to clear people from the streets, witnesses said.
Also
known as the Machpelah Cave and the Mosque of Abraham, the Tomb of the
Patriarchs is considered holy by Jews and Muslims alike.
Yom
Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, begins at sundown on Sunday when
most Jews will observe a complete fast for 24 hours.
Meanwhile,
the PA hailed a first ever meeting between one of their top
negotiators and Bush, whereas U.S. officials played down the encounter
as just a courtesy handshake.
"Nabil
Shaath met Bush at a reception in New York and they had a 10 minute
discussion about the situation in the Middle East," a top
Palestinian official told AFP, asking not to be identified.
"During
the conversation, Bush said some good things," the official said
without going into further details.
Friday's
encounter with Shaath - International Cooperation Minister in the
Palestinian Authority until its cabinet resigned en masse this week -
was Bush's first with a Palestinian official since taking office early
last year.
|
|
Israeli
occupation soldiers |
A
White House spokeswoman initially insisted she was not aware of any
such meeting.
However,
a senior administration official later confirmed Bush had shaken hands
with Shaath at a reception on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly
in New York attended by most heads of UN delegations.
A
spokesman for Shaath said he stressed to the U.S. President the need
to resolve the Middle East conflict peacefully and establish an
independent Palestinian state.
And
Shaath himself told the Palestinian WAFA news agency that the U.S.
President elaborated on a key Middle East policy speech he delivered
in June.
"Bush
committed again to do everything he said in his speech concerning the
Palestinian issue and how it is necessary and important for the
Palestinian people to have a Palestinian state," Shaath told WAFA
by telephone.
"He
said it was necessary to end the conflict in the Middle East and that
he would do his best to reach this aim.
"Bush said all parties were responsible for what is happening (in
the Middle East), and that the Israeli side had to end the occupation
and stop the suffering of the Palestinians.
"He said he was in pain when he saw the pain of the
Palestinians."
The leading Palestinian foreign policy official, Shaath has hit out at
targeting civilians by Palestinian militants and is widely regarded as
a moderate.
Since
his election to the U.S. Presidency in November 2000, Bush has not met
with any of the Palestinian leadership.
By
contrast, he has met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon six times,
stoking Arab charges of bias against the Palestinians.
Last
November, the President refused to greet Arafat at a UN meeting in New
York.
Despite
making an address in which he used the word "Palestine" for
the first time in public, Bush avoided shaking hands with the
Palestinian leader.
In
his June policy speech, Bush implicitly backed Israeli calls for
Arafat's ouster, arguing he was not doing enough to tackle corruption
and violence against Israel.
The
United States would not support the creation of a Palestinian state
until a new leadership "not compromised by terror" was
elected, he said.
In
his address to the UN General Assembly late Thursday, Bush reiterated
the criticism saying: "Like all other people, Palestinians
deserve a government that serves their interests and listens to their
voices."
But
he added that Washington remained committed to an "independent
and democratic" Palestine.
Other
top administration officials have maintained contact with Arafat's
Palestinian Authority, meeting senior negotiator Saeb Erekat and two
recent appointments to the Palestinian cabinet, former interior
minister Abdelrazek al-Yahiya and former trade and economy minister
Maher Masri.
The
Palestinian cabinet resigned en masse on Wednesday to avoid a
humiliating vote of no confidence from Palestinian MPs unhappy that a
reshuffle earlier this year had not gone further.
