-Caveat Lector-
http://msnbc.com/news/468764.asp
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
25 Israelis killed by suicide attacks
Israeli medics remove a body from the site of a bus suicide attack in the
coastal city of Haifa on Sunday.
MSNBC’s Gregg Jarrett reports from Tel Aviv and talks with MSNBC’s Alex Witt
about an explosion that rocked a busy pedestrian street in central Jerusalem.
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Dec. 2 — Israel’s troops surrounded cities in the West Bank Sunday
and shot dead four armed Palestinians outside Jenin. The military took action
after suicide bomb attacks in two Israeli cities killed at least 25 people
and left more than 200 injured. The blasts — one on a crowded bus in Haifa
and two more in a Jerusalem shopping mall — brought a furious reaction from
the government of Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who on Sunday met
with President Bush in Washington.
December 1 — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks via
phone with MSNBC’s Alex Witt about his reaction to reports of the suicide
bombing attacks and car blast in a busy pedestrian mall in Jerusalem.
ISRAEL IMMEDIATELY blamed the bombings on Yasser Arafat’s
Palestinian Authority, which controls areas that have been used by militants
to mount such attacks on Israeli civilians in the past.
The militant Islamic group Hamas, which opposes Israel’s existence,
claimed responsibility for the attacks in both cities to avenge Israel’s
killing of one of its top military leaders in November.
The Israeli military statement said Israel’s decision to encircle
Palestinian cities was a direct result of inaction by Arafat’s own security
forces. “This action is carried out because of the numerous warnings of
future attacks and the lack of any actual Palestinian action to prevent the
exit of terrorists from their territories or the stopping of terrorist
attacks,” the statement said.
Israel surrounded Jenin and two other West Bank cities on Saturday,
citing warnings that Palestinian militants were planning new attacks on
Israelis in a 14-month-old Palestinian uprising against occupation. The army
encircled additional cities in the West Bank on Sunday after the attacks.
In an exchange of fire south of the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday,
Israeli paratroopers shot dead four armed Palestinians, an army spokesman
said.
“There was an exchange of fire and they were killed,” he said.
Palestinian officials could not immediately comment on the
circumstances of the men’s death.
‘ONE OF THE WORST’
Israeli officials said all three of the blasts were believed to be the
work of suicide bombers. Witnesses said the Haifa blast, which occurred at
12:12 p.m. local time (5:12 a.m. ET), was so intense it damaged a second bus
nearby as well.
Haim Erovsky, a witness, told Israel Radio, “One bus is totally
burned out, charred.” He said it was at a busy intersection and that the
second damaged bus belonged to the Israeli military.
Only 12 hours earlier, two more suicide attacks tore through an
outdoor Jerusalem pedestrian mall packed with young shoppers. Israeli Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres described the attack as “one of the worst we have ever
seen.” NBC’s Keith Miller in Jerusalem reported that most of the dead
appeared to be teen-agers.
Eli Shetreet, who witnessed the Jerusalem blasts, said he saw bodies
being hurled in the air. “A lot of people were crying, falling and there was
the smell of burning hair,” said Shetreet, 19.
Images of the carnage — blanket-covered bodies lying on sidewalks,
blood-smeared survivors crying out in agony — filled TV screens without
letup, and there was a growing sense that 14 months of Israeli-Palestinian
fighting had reached a crossroads. “It must be understood that we are at a
turning point,” said Cabinet Minister Matan Vilnai, without saying how Israel
would retaliate.
In a first step, the Israeli military further tightened travel
restrictions, barring Palestinians from driving on most West Bank roads.
PALESTINIANS ORDER CRACKDOWN
With Israeli troops poised to re-enter Palestinian-held territory, the
Palestinian leadership gave its security forces new powers to rein in
militants on Sunday.
“The Palestinian leadership has decided to declare a state of
emergency throughout the Palestinian territory,” the statement said. Security
forces were ordered to detain “the planners and executors of these attacks so
that they could face justice.”
Arafat also called an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership
following the deadly bombings. An aide to the Palestinian leader said they
were about to make “a very serious and urgent decision” but he gave no
details.
A senior Palestinian security source said 50 militants had been
arrested in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and 150 more would be arrested
by midnight. Security chief Jibril Rajoub said those involved in the bombings
“would pay the price.”
Palestinian security forces detained two senior political officials
from the militant Islamic group Hamas on Sunday.
Hamas official Ismail Abu Shannab and Ismail Haniyah, the director of
Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin’s office, were taken into custody,
Palestinian security sources and family members said.
Warrants were also out for two other senior Hamas officials, Mahmoud
al-Zahar and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, he said.
HAMAS RESPONSIBLE
Israelis were deeply skeptical, however, pointing to a string of
broken promises in the past. “Arafat will be judged according to his actions,
not his declarations,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
The attacks followed Israel’s killing of Hamas’s military leader in
the West Bank, Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, in a missile strike on Nov. 23. Israel
said he was behind attacks on Israelis in a 14-month-old Palestinian uprising
against occupation.
“Sharon and his government were afraid of our reaction against the
assassination of our hero Abu Hanoud,” the statement said. “When our lions
avenge these ugly crimes they teach a very important lesson to the (Israeli)
occupation.”
Hamas and its allies in the Islamic Jihad movement, both operating
from Palestinian Authority territory, had threatened to carry out attacks in
Israel to avenge the killing of Hamas’ military leader in the West Bank in an
Israeli missile attack last week. Israeli forces have in recent months killed
more than a dozen prominent Palestinian militants.
The Palestinian Authority claims it has moved against these groups in
recent days, and it quickly condemned the Jerusalem terror attacks,
expressing “deep anger ... and pain” in a statement and accusing those
behind it of trying to derail a U.S. peace initiative.
In an exclusive interview with MSNBC, Arafat’s chief political
advisor, Nabil Aburdene, expressed the willingness of the Palestinian
leadership to return to peace negotiations and stressed the need for American
intervention.
“We should go back to the negotiating table because it is the only way
to save the peace process,” said Aburdene. “We are ready to implement the
agreement, but we are in need of American involvement.”
SHARON’S POSITION STRENGTHENED
The United States however, clearly put the onus on Arafat to take
action to rein in Palestinian militants. The armed wing of the Hamas militant
organization claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in
revenge for Israel’s killing of one of its leaders.
“The president made clear what he demands of Chairman Arafat and the
Palestinian Authority: the immediate arrests of those responsible for these
heinous acts and decisive action against the organizations like Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad that support them,” U.S. National Security Council
spokesman Sean McCormack said. “If Chairman Arafat is going to be a leader,
it’s time to step up.”
The Israeli prime minister ignored reporters’ questions as he left the
White House and headed back home.
According to a senior Israeli official, Sharon told Bush during the
meeting that “Israel will act against those who perpetuate terror and those
who send them on their missions.”
Ahead of the White House meeting, Bush condemned the attacks and
demanded that Arafat act against those responsible.
“I strongly condemn the horrific acts of murder that killed innocent
people in Israel,” Bush said after returning from Camp David.
“Chairman Arafat must do everything in his power to find those who
murdered innocent Israelis and bring them to justice.”
In what Sharon could interpret as an opening to pursue Israeli
military retaliation, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that Bush
would leave it up to the Israeli leader to decide how to respond. However, in
his statement prior to their meeting, Bush did not urge restraint by Israel
in responding, as the administration has in the past.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the bombings as acts of
terrorism, and told Palestinian leaders on Sunday to take immediate and
decisive action to punish those responsible.
He said he was “shocked and horrified” by the attacks, emphasized
that no cause could justify the deliberate murder of innocent civilians and
said the assaults undermined those on all sides working for peace and
justice, according to a statement issued by a U.N. spokesman.
‘TIRED OF WORDS’
Israel also appeared unlikely to be assuaged by the Palestinian
crackdown. Israeli Cabinet minister Dan Meridor, speaking for many Israelis,
said his country was “tired of words .... (Arafat) needs to take action
immediately now because this cannot continue.”
Indeed the timing of the attacks, before Sharon’s meeting with Bush,
put the Israeli leader in a strong position to press his case with the United
States, which has been attempting to mediate a cease-fire and a resumption of
the peace talks. Sharon has rejected demands for a quick return to
negotiations, instead demanding that Arafat enforce at least seven days of
absolute calm to prove he is a worthy partner for such talks.
Under pressure at home to respond harshly, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
cut short his trip to the United States.
Israel’s cabinet will hold an emergency meeting Monday to decide on
new steps to combat the fresh wave of Palestinian attacks, a senior Israeli
official said after Sunday’s talks between Bush and Sharon.
Advertisement
U.S. ENVOY IN REGION
A U.S. envoy, the retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, said in a
statement that he had spoken to Arafat and “made absolutely clear that those
responsible for planning and carrying out these attacks must be found and
brought to justice. This is an urgent task and there can be no delay, nor
excuses for not acting decisively.”
Zinni arrived in the region only last week after being appointed by
Powell. He has said he will stay in the region as long as it takes. On
Sunday, he went to the site of the bombings in Jerusalem and laid a wreath to
honor those killed.
MALL CROWDED WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
The bombs in Jerusalem went off around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, an hour
when the Ben Yehuda mall is usually crowded with young people strolling and
sitting at sidewalk cafes. The bombers were standing about 30 yards from each
other, police said.
Patrons of cafes huddled indoors, behind closed doors. Teen-age girls
and boys were screaming and crying into mobile phones, talking to their
parents, trying to find their friends in the chaos.
“This is a great catastrophe. There are many, many casualties,” said
Health Minister Nissim Dahan, who was visiting area hospitals. “We are almost
at the limit of our capacity to take in the wounded.”
Minutes after the back-to-back suicide bombings, another bomb went off
in a car parked nearby, sending panicked, screaming pedestrians running in
all directions.
The Ben Yehuda mall has been the target of suicide attacks in the
past, including in 1997.
Just up the block, on the corner of King George and Jaffa streets, a
suicide bomber blew himself up last summer in a crowded pizzeria, killing
himself and 15 diners.
And exactly six months ago, 22 young Israelis were killed when a
suicide bomber blew himself up outside a nightclub on a beach in Tel Aviv.
OTHER VIOLENCE
The violence continued later Sunday in Gaza where two Palestinian militants
infiltrated a Jewish settlement early on Sunday and shot dead an Israeli
before being killed by soldiers.
A Palestinian gunman opened fire on Israeli police during a foot patrol
along Israel’s border with the West Bank, a police spokesman said. Israeli
police shot and killed the gunman. The incident occurred near the Israeli
town of Shaar Ephraim, close to the West Bank city of Tulkarm.
MSNBC’s Keith Miller in Jerusalem, The Associated Press and Reuters
contributed to this report.
*COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107,
any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use
without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational
purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ]
Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists!
Write to same address to be off lists!
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
