Fadlallah criticizes hysterical campaign launched by Sharon against Palestinians…(1)

Leading  cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, speaking at his weekly seminar, criticized the “hysterical campaign launched by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon against the Palestinians.”

But Fadlallah cautioned the Palestinian Authority against “succumbing to American pressure and taking negative measures against freedom fighters,” and underscored the importance of unity among the Palestinian people.

He also denounced the United States for what he described as “placing an umbrella” over Zionist terrorist activities in the territories, and described American promises of a Palestinian state as a “mirage.”

Similarly, the Progressive Socialist Party, in a statement, urged the Palestinian Authority “not to heed Israeli orders and lures,” saying there was “no justification” for detaining or arresting “freedom fighters.”

“This is a vital and national matter, which exposes Palestinian unity to danger at a time when it needs further strengthening,” the statement added.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon protest against Israeli massacres…(2)
 Around 1,000 Palestinian refugees in Ain el-Helweh camp of south Lebanon staged a protest Wednesday against Israel's "massacres" in the Palestinian self-rule towns of the West Bank.

Khaled Aref, who heads Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement in the region, told reporters the aim of the demonstration was to "awaken the conscience of the international community".

He called for the United States and European Union to force "the executioner (Israel's Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon to withdraw his troops from the Palestinian territories".

Around 100 Fatah fighters armed with assault rifles paraded through the streets of the camp outside the coastal town of Sidon, along with Fatah Cub youths who receive arms training.

Demonstrators condemned Israel's "massacres" and carried cardboard model tanks and planes stamped with "Made in USA", a supplier of the arms used in Israel's incursion into Palestinian towns since October 18.

A New Israeli Massacre Leaves 21 Palestinian Martyrs…(3)
At least 10 Palestinians were massacred in an overnight Israeli raid into the West Bank village of Beit Rima, north of Ramallah in the West Bank. Residents were ordered by loudspeaker to stay indoors, as hundreds of Israeli occupation troops carried out door-to-door searches for suspect activists. The head of the village council, Abdel Karim Jasser, said at least 15 tanks stormed the town before dawn, without any prior shooting and destroyed two Palestinian police posts. More tanks and vehicles remained on the edge of the locality to seal it off. The Red Crescent medical aid group said its ambulances were initially refused entry to the village. At least one of the Palestinians had bled to death. An unknown number of injured Palestinians were taken away, under arrest, by army ambulances to Israeli hospitals. Israeli bloodshed continued and forces stormed into Tulkarem in the West Bank, killing three Palestinians early Wednesday morning. The three were killed in an ambush. Four more received moderate injuries. The forces also opened fire at several neighborhoods in the besieged city, and tanks attempted to move further inside Tulkarm, a move that prompted heavy Palestinian fire. Israeli bulldozers also destroyed the home of a leading Palestinian activist named by Riad Kami, whom "Israel" accuses of killing five Israelis. As the forces were carrying on a mass killing, Israeli settlers also shot and injured six Palestinians, including one seriously. The Palestinians were in a mini-van on their way to work at an Israeli settlement in the area of al-Khalil, when Jewish settlers in a car opened fire with an automatic rifle early Wednesday. In Jerusalem, a 22 year-old Palestinian man Marwan Halabiye, was shot in the head close to his home in Abu Dis on Wednesday. Another Palestinian died at Ramallah hospital suffering from wounds sustained four days ago. Away from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip was another scene for the Israeli atrocities. The F-16s roared over the city after Israeli tanks and bulldozers thrust into the self-rule Palestinian town of Qarara overnight. Bulldozers completely destroyed a house and a garage and left another home partially destroyed. Orange and olive groves were also flattened.

Footnotes

1-      The Daily Star, 25\10\2001

2-      AFP, 24\10\2001

3-      Manar TV, 24\10\2001