Palestinian Official Urges International ProtectionThe international community should think seriously about the best means to provide protection to the Palestinians and put an end to Israel's "maneuvering and procrastination," said a Palestinian official Wednesday.In a press release, Mahmoud Abbas, secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), regretted the Israeli practices of responding to the Palestinian peaceful Intifada (uprising) with artillery, missiles and the internationally-banned explosive bullets. "Such Israeli inhuman and immoral practices, that go against the international laws, should be taken into account when the U.N. fact-finding committee arrives in the region," said Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society asserted that during the almost four weeks of bloody clashes between Israeli forces and the Palestinians, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used many lethal weapons, including internationally-banned bullets. Meanwhile, the PLO official denied holding any meeting with Israeli Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin or any other Israeli officials. The bloody clashes, sparked by a provocative visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon on September 28, has witnessed another escalation recently as the IDF targeted Palestinian apartment buildings in various towns and cities in the West Bank and Gaza. The violence has left more than 120 Palestinians dead and thousands more injured. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |