|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
by IslamOnline Staff GAZA (IslamOnline) - A popular Islamic group in the occupied Palestinian territories pledged Monday to continue an uprising against Israeli troops despite an end-to-the-violence call emanating from a U.S.-sponsored Middle East emergency summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) denounced Tuesday an emergency summit held in Egypt to stop more than two weeks of Israeli-Palestinian clashes as an "American-orchestrated" conspiracy. "The American-orchestrated and Egyptian-arranged Sharm El-Sheikh summit [aims] at aborting the present Palestinian uprising against Zionist occupation and preventing it from spreading to other Arab countries," said a statement by the group which commands wide support among Palestinians. Hamas and other Islamist organizations in the occupied Palestinian territories oppose talks with Israel and advocate armed conflict as the only way to wring concessions from the Jewish state. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed in the US-brokered talks to call for calm and an end of more than two weeks of violent clashes between the two sides that have led to the death of 97 Palestinians.
Fatah, Arafat's ruling faction, organized some of the demonstrations, while many others were organized by Islamic and other movements opposed to the Oslo process and what they call "the sell-out of Palestinian rights to the Zionists." Demonstrators voiced their anxiety and frustration, warning the Palestinian leadership against "betraying the blood of our martyrs." In Gaza, Islamist and nationalist groups organized a march in downtown Gaza, protesting the Sharm-el-Sheikh summit. "The summit at Sharm el-Sheikh is a conspiracy against the intifada," said one banner carried by the demonstrators. Some protesters shouted "Arafat… Arafat: the blood of the martyrs is not for sale." In Ramallah, while some demonstrators held portraits of Yasser Arafat, they nonetheless urged him not to compromise with the Israelis. "The blood of our martyrs will not go in vain," read a sign carried by Fatah demonstrators. |
Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets to voice their indignation at the summit. Demonstrations took place in towns throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank protesting the summit and urging Arafat not to cave in to Israeli and American pressure. 
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
