Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 April 2001 Issue No.528
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue | Previous issue | Site map

Broken promises

In Washington, President Hosni Mubarak has made it clear that the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territories requires immediate intervention if we are to avert consequences that will threaten the region as a whole. He has also revealed the absurdity of Israel's claims that it will only return to negotiations with the Palestinians when the popular uprising against the occupation comes to a complete halt. Israel is spending millions of dollars in propaganda campaigns to distort the Intifada and portray it as random violence, but the world is slowly realising that the uprising is a response to continued occupation and the use of brutal, intolerable force by Israeli soldiers.

Israel cannot expect peace and tranquillity while it colonises the land of others and holds them hostage to its racist occupation regime.

Yesterday's meeting between top Palestinian negotiators and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, the first on such a high level since Ariel Sharon took office, proved that Israel had no option but to return immediately to the negotiating table, instead of making ridiculous demands. The only result of Sharon's decision to escalate shelling of Palestinian towns and villages has been an escalation in the uprising.

Since the Palestinians marked the 25th anniversary of Land Day a week ago, over 12 have been shot dead, including two children. The Israeli army, for the first time since the Intifada started in late September, has invaded Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank and kidnapped six members of Yasser Arafat's presidential guard. Sharon also announced that he would pursue his predecessor's policy of killing Palestinian activists suspected of planning attacks against Israeli targets, and the first victim was a 26-year-old father of three who, Israel said, was a member of the Jihad group.

Angry protests have begun again in several Arab capitals as university students press their governments to respond to the Israeli aggression. Sharon's claim that he would grant security to the Israeli people is not only a lie, it seems, but also a disaster in the making.

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