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Massive Pro-Intifada Rallies in Palestinian Territories, Arab World
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| Thanks to the sacrifices of the Palestinians, the Intifada is continuing for the third year and is marching towards victory, Nasrallah |
BEIRUT, September 27 (IslamOnline) - In a show of support on the two-year anniversary of the Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation, massive demonstrations erupted Friday, September 27, 2002, in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Bahrain, and elsewhere in the Arab world.
Addressing more than 100,000 sympathizers of the Hezbollah movement in southern Beirut, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah said, "Thanks to the willing sacrifices and most of all the martyrdom operations, the Intifada is continuing for the third year and is marching towards victory".
The crowd shouted "death to America, death to Israel", reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The large crowd marched through the largely Muslim Shiite Beirut suburb blanketing it with Palestinian, Lebanese flags and Hezbollah banners and calling for a continuation of the Intifada as it marked its second year.
They gathered at a square in the Haret Hreik neighborhood to hear a fiery speech by Nasrallah, where a three-meter (nine foot) high model of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque was set up for the occasion.
The cleric called for unity among Palestinians and hailed their leader "Yasser Arafat and those surrounded (with him) by Israeli troops, resisting with him in the Muqataa," headquarters in Ramallah.
Nasrallah also blasted Arab leaders for their willingness to "bow down to the will of the United States that is threatening the whole region, not only Iraq, with blood and fire."
Meanwhile, besieged Palestinian President Yasser Arafat addressed by phone a rally over more 5,000 Palestinians in a refugee camp near the northern city of Tripoli.
Arafat addressed by telephone a rally in the northern Nahr al-Bared camp from his besieged headquarters in the West Bank where he has been surrounded by the Israeli army with 250 of his entourage for over a week.
"Whether they like it or not, we will pray together soon in the mosques and churches of Jerusalem," said Arafat, with the crowd erupting in joy at hearing the voice of their leader broadcast over speakers, an AFP reporter said.
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| Palestinians gather around wreckage of a car hit an Israeli
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"We will sacrifice ourselves for you Abu Ammar," the Palestinians responded, using Arafat's nom-de-guerre.
At the same time, some 5,000 supports of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas held a rally in the southern Rashidiye refugee camp.
In Manama, more than 2,000 people took to the streets of the Bahraini capital Friday to voice anger at the Israeli siege imposed on Arafat and his entourage in the West Bank city of Ramallah, as well as marking the second anniversary of the Palestinian Intifada.
The protest, organized by the Al-Qods (Jerusalem in Arabic) Support Committee, also included dozens of women who joined in denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the rally's call for a boycott of U.S. products.
After walking two kilometers (1.2 miles), the crowd dispersed peacefully.
Bahrain is a key U.S. ally in the region and base to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Since Israel launched a five-week offensive on the West Bank in late March, the tiny Gulf state has seen several demonstrations in support of the Palestinians, with one Bahraini killed and several wounded in the mass protests.
In Gaza, meanwhile, four Palestinian teenagers were wounded, one of them critically, after Israeli soldiers fired at a group of stone throwers east of Gaza City, Palestinian medical and security sources said.
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