Dear Friends of PACE,
Dear Friends of the Palestinian people,

Today's funeral procession of Raed Yaqoub Hammoudeh, the thirty-one-year old martyr in Ramallah sounded like a referendum on the summit of Sharm al-Sheikh.

Raed Hammoudeh left behind a wife and two children, the older one is a three-year old girl, and seven brothers; three of them are in Ramallah hospital recovering from injuries by Israeli bullets they endured the same day that Raed was shot dead.

Slogans chanted during the procession clearly reflect the Palestinian mood and position towards today's summit. Thousands of demonstrators chanted against the summit and the US, Husni Mubarak, president of Egypt, and Arafat. They described the summit as being a conspiracy against the Intifada and the upcoming Arab summit. Most Palestinians strongly believe that this Intifada is the right path to follow towards ending Israeli occupation of the West Bank (Jerusalem included) and the Gaza Strip. The aim of the summit as they say it, is to end the "violence" and return to the status quo, something that they can not tolerate.

The closure imposed on Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps is still on. Martyrs of a second type are being added every day to the list of martyrs killed by Israeli bullets. Yesterday a pregnant woman from Jericho lost he baby on an Israeli military barrier imposing the closure

over the city. And today a man died in Salfit because the Israeli soldiers imposing a closure over his city did not allow him to go to the nearest hospital for dialyses. A driver was wounded as he was trying to leave his village which is under siege to buy food supplies for his family from the neighboring town. Several

Arab countriesare willing to host injured Palestinians by the Israeli army in their hospitals, but no one is allowed to cross the border because all the border crossings to the outside world are closed.

The life of the Palestinian is totally dependent on the good well of the Israeli occupation army. This is the legacy of Oslo, whose only achievement was locking the Palestinians in a big jail, and handing the key to Israel. If a Palestinian shows his discontent with occupation, he must suffer, and even die. In the twenty-first century slavery is still exercised by Israel, which is protected by the "free world". Kofi Anan showed extreme empathy towards two Israeli soldiers who were killed in Ramallah the other day, but none to the over 100 Palestinian martyrs. The White House and congress demanded that the Palestinians stop the violence, and withdraw their stones to their bases. It remains to be demanded from Israel to stop shelling rockets on Palestinian cities, and to withdraw their tanks and helicopters to their bases.

The Palestinians strongly believe that the western world, and particularly the US, does not care about the Palestinians because of their unconditional support for Israel. They also believe that the bulk of the public opinion in the west is sympathetic with Israel despite its cruel policies against them. But they feel that they at least have the support of the people of the Arab and Moslem worlds. The west still has to show its support for the just cause of the Palestinian people, and we call upon all our friends in the west to raise their voice for peace and justice for all.

The PACE team