May 20, 2005

ABU MAZEN IN COMMEMORATION OF NAKBA: OUR PEOPLE INSIST ON THEIR RIGHT OF RETURN AND THE PALESTINIANS HAVE A HOMELAND AND IT IS CALLED PALESTINE. THE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT STRESSES THAT THE FINAL SOLUTION WILL BE BASED ON A POPULAR VOTE. MILITARY CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THE ISRAELIS AND THE RESISTENCE IN SHABA'A FARMS. RICE VISITS IRAQ AND URGES ALL SECTS TO TAKE PART IN THE POLITAL PROCESS. Thousands of Palestinian people in the West Bank (WB) and Gaza Strip (GS), have observed Sunday one-minute silence and organized festivals in commemoration of the 57th anniversary of NAKBA or catastrophe. Demonstrations have poured into the main streets of the main cities, towns, villages and refugee camps, repeating the National Anthem and slogans calling for the implementation the Refugees Right to Return that approved by the International Legitimacy. The participants in the festivals in the WB and GS affirmed that the right to return is sacred and chanting slogans for Palestine and their Right to Return. In the festivals, citizens have raised the names of more than 500 Palestinian villages wiped off the map by Zionist gangs in 1948 and replaced by Israeli names and cities. Hundreds of scout-boys and schools boys raised Palestine flags and graffiti, calling for the implementation of the UN Right of Return resolution No. 194. At homes, thousands of Palestinians gathered around Palestinian televisions listening to President Abbas speech in commemoration of the 57th anniversary of Nakba and their commitments to the inalienable right to return. The estimated Palestinians who expelled as a result of the Nakba about 750,000 persons in addition to about 350,000 persons in 1967and the Palestinians in Diaspora estimated to about 5 millions, mainly they are in Jordan (about 3 millions) Syria and Lebanon (about 0.9 million) and the rest are distributed on other Arab and west countries including Europe, U.S.A and Latin America. Worthily mentioning that the Palestinians who remain in their homeland in Israel after the Nakba amounted to 154,000 persons, compared with 1,1 millions persons in the 57th anniversary of the Nakba. In 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian citizens were either slaughtered or dispersed in different exiles all over the world. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on May 15 called for "a just and agreed solution to the issue of refugees in line with (UN) Resolution 194," rejected resettlement of refugees in host countries, reminded that the "PLO is still clinging to the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people," and stressed the importance of creating a Palestinian state in accordance with the UN resolutions. "Peace must be based on the U.N. resolution that ensures the establishment of a Palestinian state and a just solution to the refugee problem, as was determined by the Arab peace initiative as well," he said. "Peace, security and stability in the Middle East hinges on finding a just solution for a just cause based on international legitimacy, (which is) the right of our people to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and to find a just and agreed solution to the issue of refugees in line with (U.N. General Assembly) Resolution 194, (of 1949)" said Abbas in a broadcast speech recorded before his current trip abroad. Abbas rejected proposals to resettle Palestinian refugees in host countries. "PLO is still clinging to the inalienable rights of the Palestinian People and our people in refugees camps reject today, as in the past, all forms of resettlement," WAFA quoted him as saying in a televised speech, in commemoration of the 57th anniversary of Nakba. "Palestinians reject the proposal of resettling the refugees in Arab countries and their presence there is temporary," he added. However Abbas called on the host countries to ensure basic civil rights for the refugees, demanding they are granted the basic human rights to work and travel freely. "The Nakba and the disaster forced upon our people a life in refugee camps without an identity, in the midst of oppression, despair, poverty, and disease," Abbas said, adding: "The Palestinians have a homeland and it is called Palestine." Insisting that the Palestinian people will not accept the "historical injustice," Abbas said that: "Our people will never forget and the generations will never forget," that on 14 May 1948 "a crime was committed against a people, who were uprooted from their land and whose existence was destroyed and who were forced to flee to all areas of the world." "The Palestinian people will never forget their sufferings inflicted by Israel's destruction of their homes and denial of their right of return," he added. Warning against the dangers of not solving the issue of refugees, he said that: "The international community should understand the dangers of keeping millions of refugees without hope and future." Abbas also honored the memory of the Palestinian martyrs "who have irrigated our homeland with their pure blood" and the "heroic Palestinians that are behind bars as a result of their struggle for Palestine's independence." Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in the Gaza Strip and West Bank Sunday to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the Al-Nakba (Catastrophe) Day. The Palestinian National Council (PNC) called for keeping national unity to counter the Israeli occupation and aggression. Echoing the PNC's appeal, Farouk Qadoumi, Secretary General of the ruling Fatah movement, vowed to secure the refugees' right of return, and the release of some 8,500 Palestinians held in the jails of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). Meanwhile, addressing a special session of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to commemorate the Nakba, Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei similarly said that the Palestinian people would never give up the right of return and also criticized the Arab world for its lack of support for the Palestinian cause. "Today we face a political battle against the silence of the Arab world and the international indifference to our cause," Qurei told deputies. "Our wound is still bleeding 57 years later," with hope for a solution fading as Israel had ruled out any refugee return and is tightening its occupation of the West Bank, he added. "We will never give up the legitimate right of having a fair solution to the issue of the refugees based on UN resolutions. We will never surrender our legitimate right to end the Israeli occupation and aggression, stop (Israeli) settlement expansion and the construction of the separation wall," he confirmed. "Jerusalem is under occupation, facing great danger, (West Bank) settlements are expanding daily, the separation wall is strangling our land and peace (hopes) are faltering," Qurie told the Palestinian parliament. Palestinian National Council (PNC) stressed, on the importance of adherence to National Unity and National inalienable rights. In a statement, commemorating the 57th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), PNC said that the United Nations' position is unable to oblige Israel to abide by international resolutions relating to Israeli withdrawal from territories that it occupied since 1967 war, stop building settlements and not Judizing Jerusalem. "Israel has been bypassing all accords including Oslo, Road Map and the recent Sharem Al-Sheikh understandings, in addition to its ongoing of killing, arrests, siege cities, erecting checkpoints and destroying the Palestinian National Authority's infrastructures", the PNC said. The PNC called on all Palestinian people and their factions to cling to national unity and work for building up the independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital and work for the return of Palestinian Refugees to their homes. Palestinian people in all around the world affirmed that the right of return is sacred, calling on the international community to end the tragedy of the Palestinians. In different countries around the world, thousands of Palestinians people commemorated on Sunday the 57th anniversary of al-Nakba (Catastrophe). In the West Bank (WB) and Gaza Strip (GS), Palestinians poured into the main streets of the main cities, towns, villages and refugee camps, repeating the National Anthem and slogans calling for the implementation the Refugees Right to Return that approved by the International Legitimacy. Moreover, participants raised the names of more than 500 Palestinian villages wiped off the map by Zionist gangs in 1948 and replaced by Israeli names and cities. Hundreds of schools boys raised Palestine flags and graffiti, calling for the implementation of the UN Right of Return resolution No. 194. In Lebanon, more than ten thousand Palestinians marched through Kfer Kla and Fatma gate, near the Lebanese borders, in a demonstration organized by Palestinian students and youths unions. The participants called upon the International community and the Human Rights Organizations to end the tragedy of the Palestinian people and to implement the international resolutions, affirming the refugee's right to return. In al-Rashydia refugee camp, south of Lebanon, Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) organized a festival commemorating the important event. Participants from all the Lebanese political, cultural and social levels expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle to return to their lands. Elsewhere, in a press release issued today, Palestinian Workers Syndicate said that the right of return is an essential purpose in our struggle, calling upon the international community not to ignore the refugees issue. According to data, the estimated Palestinians who expelled from their lands of 1948 about 750,000 persons in addition to 350,000 persons in 1967. Palestinians in Diaspora estimated about 5 millions, mainly in Jordan (about 3 millions) Syria and Lebanon (about 0.9 million) and the rest are distributed around Arab and west countries including Europe, U.S.A and Latin America. Palestinians who remain in their homeland "Israel" after the Nakba amounted to 154,000 persons, compared with 1,1 millions persons currently lining inside Israel. Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amre Moussa, expressed hope that peace could be achieved and the Palestinian people could live in security and stability. On the occasion of the 57th anniversary of the Nakba, Moussa told reporters last night that the Arab League totally supports the Palestinian Issue and the Palestinian people. He added that our message in this occasion is a message of total support in line with strong and clear Arab stance, affirming on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. On the other hand after weeks of protest, the Christian Arab community in Jerusalem has apparently succeeded in getting the Greek Orthodox Church to sack its patriarch, Irineos I, over his alleged involvement in the sale of church property in East Jerusalem to Jewish settlers earlier this year. Irineos is widely believed to have okayed the sale of several buildings and a hotel in Jerusalem's old city, in concert with Nikos Papadimas, a Greek aide, who fled Palestine to an unknown destination with millions of dollars. Irineos, for his part, has insisted that he had no knowledge of the illicit deal, promising to restore, if possible, the sold real estate. Orthodox leaders in Palestine, clergy and laity alike, refused to believe him, arguing that it would be a calamity if he knew of the deal and even a greater calamity if he didn't. The crisis reached a climax on Friday 6 May, when the orthodox community's religious council, or synod, decided by a two-third majority to dismiss Irineos and cease all contact with him. "Irineos has been driven by a spirit of falsehood, misunderstanding the meaning of the church and irresponsibly handling the property of the patriarchate," read a statement issued by the synod. Explaining the decision to sack him, the statement continued that Irineos "put in danger our rights and our presence in the Holy Places". Irineos, meanwhile, refused to accede to the decision, accusing the synod of acting illegally and in contravention to clerical norms. He even sought unsuccessfully to convene a meeting of top clergymen for the purpose of sacking 18 members of the synod who voted to dismiss him. Following the synod's decision, a meeting was hastily arranged between Irineos and his critics during which an acrimonious argument erupted between the two sides. In the meeting, the official spokesman of the church, Archimandrite Atallah Hanna, accused the patriarch of not telling the truth and of betraying the trust of the community. Irineos, feeling besieged, walked out of the patriarchate headquarters. During the night, he returned to the patriarchate under heavy Israeli police protection where he reportedly began packing his belongings. Some of the leaders of the Palestinian Orthodox community demanded that Irineos be put on trial before a church court. "He must not be allowed to leave until he has been investigated and tried before a church court," said Dimitri Diliani, an orthodox community leader. "This is an important move but the battle is not yet over, the fight will continue until we recover the real estates and buildings that were sold," he said. Developments in the Jerusalem patriarchate seem to have prompted Patriarch of Istanbul Portholomeos I to give at least tacit consent to the sacking of Irineos. According to Archimandrite Hanna, Portholomeos I sent a telegram to Irineos in which he didn't address him as "patriarch". Portholomeos I, the spiritual head of some 250 million Orthodox believers around the world, also asked Irineos to de-escalate the situation and visit him in Istanbul. Irineos protested against the letter, arguing that Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority were still recognising him as the legitimate patriarch. Signs are, however, that Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have been simply waiting for the crisis to fully unravel before officially withdrawing recognition of Irineos. Meanwhile, Irineos's financial manager, Papadimas, who signed the deal with Jewish settler investors, has been quoted as saying that the patriarch sold the buildings in Jerusalem in order to gain Israel's approval. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted Papadimas as saying that Irineos wanted "to prove to Israel that he didn't support the Palestinian cause". Israeli warplanes launched two air raids on southern Lebanon on Friday after a series of cross-border attacks in a disputed border area, Lebanese police said. The Israeli aircraft went into action after a series of explosions probably caused by rocket fire occurred near an Israeli military position in the contested Shebaa farms area. In the first raid the Israeli jets fired two surface-to-air missiles at Habbariye, north of Kfarshouba village, near the disputed border region of the Shebaa Farms, the police said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. A few minutes later Israeli aircraft raided the western outskirts of Kfarshouba. At the same time an Israeli helicopter gunship bombed the region of Khiyam, southeast of Kfarshouba, while Israel gunners fired several rounds of artillery at the border town of Rmeish. The raids were the first since air attacks on January 17 wounded two Lebanese civilians. They came amid stern warnings from Israel that the Beirut government is responsible for maintaining peace along the border, following explosions in 24 hours in the volatile region. Israel reiterated that Lebanon was responsible for maintaining peace along their common border following at least two explosions in 24 hours in the volative region. "Israel holds Lebanon responsible for what happens on its border," Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told public radio, adding that Israel had no interest in escalating tension along its northern border. "We are following events in Lebanon closely. The Syrians continue to play a certain role despite announcing their troops have withdrawn," Mofaz added. Violence flared on Lebanon's border with Israel for the first time in four months as preparations quickened for parliamentary elections in two weeks' time. The Friday 13th flare-up underlined the dangers of a power vacuum in Lebanon after Syria ended its 29-year troop deployment last month, with the anti-Syrian opposition fracturing amid 11th-hour bickering over the constituency boundaries for the elections. An Israeli military spokeswoman reported no fewer than nine explosions near Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms district. Israeli tanks, artillery and warplanes retaliated, destroying four Hezbollah positions across the border, she added. A Lebanese police report said Israeli gunners began the clashes with heavy machinegun fire on the village of Kfarshouba early afternoon, which damaged a house but caused no casualties. Israel denied the Kfarshouba shooting. Two hours later Hezbollah said it retaliated by firing two shells on Rweissat al-Alam, an Israeli position in the Shebaa Farms. Israeli jetfighters launched two successive retaliatory raids while helicopter gunships, tanks and artillery pounded nearby border areas, police said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmud Hammud blamed Israel for the rising tension and urged the "international community and the United Nations to act to secure regional stability." Prime Minister Nagib Miqati contacted the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon in a bid to "ease tensions", the official ANI news agency said. Tension had been rising for several days, exacerbated by two blasts in 24 hours on the Israeli side that prompted stern warnings from Israel that it held the Lebanese government responsible for maintaining peace in the area. The president of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, called for "a massive turnout at the elections regardless of who the candidates are". His call came as the speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, said he would announce a single candidates' list for his Amal faction and Hezbollah for the two constituencies. The border region has remained tense since Israel's own pullout from south Lebanon in 2000 after 22-years of occupation. At least nine blasts, probably caused by rocket fire from Lebanon were reported near the Israeli base in the occupied Shebaa Farms area on the border between Syria, Lebanon and Israel, an Israeli army spokeswoman said. Israeli artillery swung into action against Hezbollah positions, the army added, while Lebanese police reported an Israeli air raid just north of the Shebaa area. Hezbollah said it had fired at Israeli positions in the Shebaa area -- which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and is now claimed by Lebanon -- in revenge for heavy Israeli machinegun fire in the nearby Lebanese village of Kfarshouba. The violence followed warnings from Israel that it held the Lebanese government responsible for maintaining the peace, following two blasts in 24 hours on the Israeli side of the border. "Israel holds Lebanon responsible for what happens on its border," Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told public radio, adding his government had no interest in escalating tension along its northern border. Israel has called on the government in Beirut to disarm all militias, as required by UN Security Council Resolution 1559 adopted in September which also called for the Syrian troop withdrawal. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged Lebanon to take full control over its territory, saying he was "gravely concerned" about the violence. The United States is worried about tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border and asked all parties to cease fire along the so-called blue line, a spokesman said. "The United States is deeply concerned about the recent violence along the blue line," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said."We call on all parties to immediately cease all attacks and to exercise calm and restraint." For the first time since January, Israeli military aircraft have raided Lebanese territory after clashes on the ground between Israeli soldiers and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. "This is an especially sensitive and critical time for the Lebanese people, who will be voting in parliamentary elections beginning on May 29," Boucher said. The elections come after Syrian forces left Lebanon in late April. "This opportunity for reaffirming democracy in Lebanon must not be undermined by militias pursuing their own agendas," he said. "These incidents highlight the urgent need for full and immediate compliance by all parties with UN Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1583. "All militias in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, must disarm and disband, and the Lebanese government must extend and exercise its sole and exclusive control over all of Lebanese territory," Boucher said. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed concern over the flare-up of violence on the border between Israel and Lebanon. "The secretary general calls on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint in a situation that continues to be fragile, not just in Lebanon but also in the wider region," Annan's spokesman said in a statement. "The secretary general once again urges all parties to fully respect the Blue Line (border), which was unanimously determined by the Security Council, and reminds them that one violation cannot justify another," he said. Friday's flare-up underlined the dangers of a power vacuum in Lebanon after Syria ended its 29-year troop deployment in its smaller neighbour last month. An Israeli military spokeswoman reported nine explosions near Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms district. Israeli tanks, artillery and warplanes retaliated, destroying four Hezbollah positions across the border. The militant group Hezbollah controls virtually all of the area on the Lebanese side along the Israeli border. Security Council Resolution 1559, steered through the council by France and the United States in September, demanded the disarming of all militia groups in Lebanon. On the other hand US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has stressed the importance of Sunni Arabs being more involved in drafting Iraq's new constitution. In a surprise visit to the country, Dr Rice said she and the Iraqi Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, had discussed mechanisms to achieve this. She told American ABC television that Iraq's achievements in the past year had been remarkable. But she said further political progress was vital to overcome the insurgency. Dr Rice made the visit to hold talks with Iraq's new government on how to combat the mainly Sunni insurgency. She insisted Iraq's security forces were making progress. Under heavy guard on a surprise visit, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iraq's new government realizes it must move quickly to write a constitution that reflects the full spectrum of ethnic and religious groups. Acknowledging the recent increase in deadly attacks, she said the insurgency can be beaten not just by force but also by "a political alternative that is strong." The trip was a closely kept secret even at the State Department and among Iraqi leaders. It showed both the importance that U.S. officials place on the success of the Iraqi government and the dangerous reality in the country two years after the American-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. "Obviously there is a security situation ... but look, I want and have wanted to go to Iraq at the right time and the right time is when they had a new government," Rice said en route to the region. Rice used a borrowed government plane on her journey to the area and was accompanied by only a few of her regular assistants. In Iraq, she rode in armed helicopters that flew low and fast to avoid any ground artillery. The one-day trip was Rice's first to Iraq since she succeeded Colin Powell in January as the top U.S. diplomat. When Rice was President Bush's national security adviser, she was a chief architect of the war in Iraq. She accompanied Bush on his own surprise trip to Iraq on Thanksgiving Day in 2003. Iraq's elected government, three fractious months in the making, is set to expire at year's end. In between, the government is supposed to draft a new constitution and held new elections. "This government understands even better than we that the Iraqi people expect a lot," Rice said after meeting with Iraq's prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jafaari, and other officials. Some of the momentum from the Jan. 30 elections has evaporated because of political and ethnic squabbles over appointments to important government positions. Sunni Arabs are underrepresented and the delay in forming a government may have emboldened militants. Attacks by militants have killed at least 430 people since April 28, when the elected government was announced. Rice's visit coincided with the discovery of the bodies of 38 men, including 10 Iraqi soldiers, in three locations. They were shot, execution-style. Gunmen shot to death an Industry Ministry official and his driver in the capital, while a leading Shiite cleric and his nephew were killed in a drive-by shooting. U.S. military officials have urged al-Jafaari to act quickly to avoid a loss of confidence and good will among Iraqis. "The insurgency is very violent but you defeat insurgencies not just militarily," Rice said. "You defeat them by having a political alternative that is strong. The Iraqis ... are now going to have to intensify their efforts to demonstrate that in fact the political process is the answer for the Iraqi people." More than two years after Saddam's fall, 85 percent of Iraqis complain of frequent power outages, only 54 percent have access to clean water and almost one-quarter of Iraqi children suffer from chronic malnutrition, according to a U.N. and Iraqi survey. Rice said the United States and the European Union will sponsor a conference next month to attract additional international aid for Iraq. The assistance could go beyond financial pledges and include help with the constitution and other issues, Rice said. In stops in the Kurdish region and in Baghdad, Rice tried to nudge Iraq's factions to work together. She urged patience while the new government takes over. "Things do not happen overnight," Rice said after meetings with al-Jafaari and the defense and interior ministers. She also saw Ahmed Chalabi, the former Bush administration favorite who fell out with Washington but now holds an important post in the transitional government. "We talked about the importance of the political process, which should be inclusive," al-Jafaari said. "The constitutional process needs to be inclusive." Rice also met with President Jalal Talabani.