Palestinians mark 1948 uprooting with rallies
May 15, 10:52 AM (ET)
By DALIA NAMMARI
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Palestinians marked the 60th anniversary of
their uprooting with rallies, sirens and black balloons Thursday - an
annual ritual made even darker this year by crippling internal divisions
and dimini****ng independence hopes.
The memorial provided a stark contrast to Israel's all-out birthday
bash, which included a high-profile visit by President Bush for the 60th
independence day celebration.
Bush's embrace of Israel at a time when the Palestinians were mourning
was bound to further harm the tainted U.S. image in Palestinian areas
and across the Arab world.
Thursday's events commemorated the displacement of hundreds of thousands
of Palestinians who either fled or were driven out of their homes during
the 1948 war over Israel's creation. Palestinians call it their "****ba,"
Arabic for catastrophe.
The anniversary underscored the Palestinians' internal division. For
almost a year now, the Islamic militant group Hamas has ruled Gaza,
while the West Bank is run by moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas.
Hamas sup****ters stayed away from West Bank marches, while Hamas police
in Gaza prevented rallies by their political rivals, including Abbas'
Fatah movement.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands stood in silence in
downtown Manara Square as a siren wailed, then listened to a taped Abbas
speech. Some carried black flags, and at a separate event youngsters
released thousands of black balloons near a West Bank crossing into
Israel.
In Gaza, several thousand Hamas sup****ters marched toward a sealed
Israeli border crossing to protest the near-complete closure of the
territory since Hamas' violent takeover last June. Later, several dozen
teens walked to Israeli positions on the border and threw stones.
Israeli forces fired live rounds and tear gas, and Hamas police said
three Palestinians were wounded.
Israel's military had sent reinforcements to the Gaza border and warned
that those trying to break through the border fence were risking their
lives.
In the Jebaliya refugee camp and the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Hamas
police banned ****ba marches by rivals, tearing down political posters,
blocking streets and stopping cars. In Jebaliya, 20 Fatah sup****ters
were detained and several others beaten by police, Fatah organizers said.
Also in Gaza, Hamas' smaller Islamist rival, Islamic Jihad, organized a
march of about 500 elementary school children who marched in
military-style uniforms, carrying models of rockets and fake rifles
through Gaza City's main square.
This year's ****ba commemorations come at a time when hopes for a peace
deal with Israel are increasingly dim.
Nonetheless, Abbas pledge to push ahead with the talks. In his taped
****ba speech, he warned Israel that it must not waste a peace
op****tunity with its continued expansion of Israeli settlements on lands
the Palestinians seek for their state.
"On this beloved land, there are two peoples, one that celebrates its
independence and one that suffers its ****ba," he said.
Several months of negotiations have produced no tangible results, an
Israeli prime minister weakened by a widening corruption probe is seen
as unlikely to take daring political steps, and opinion polls show
sup****t for U.S.-backed Palestinian leaders seeking a peace deal is
plummeting.
The Palestinian economy remains stagnant, despite a massive injection of
foreign aid, in part because of Israel's reluctance to ease its
restrictions on movement and trade.
Meanwhile, the separation of Hamas-run Gaza and the Abbas-ruled West
Bank is deepening. The rivals are not on speaking terms, and the two
territories that were to make up the future state are cut off from one
another by Israeli travel bans.
"The level of hopelessness is very strong," said Palestinian pollster
Jamil Rabih, adding that a recent survey indicates that half the
Palestinians don't expect to see a state established within the next 25
years.
"There is nothing on the horizon for us," he added.
The gloomy mood has been compounded by Israeli independence day parties.
Last week, Israel celebrated the Hebrew calendar anniversary of its May
14, 1948 founding with fireworks, picnics and air force flyovers. A
second round of celebrations followed this week, with the participation
of Bush.
On Thursday, Bush addressed Israel's parliament pledging an unbreakable
bond with the country while criticizing the deadly tactics of extremist
groups and denouncing anti-Semitism.
"We believe that religious liberty is fundamental to civilized society,
so we condemn anti-Semitism in all forms whether by those who openly
question Israel's right to exist, or by others who quietly excuse them,"
Bush said.
Israel's government, meanwhile, came under mounting pressure to try to
oust Hamas, after a rocket fired from Gaza hit a medical clinic in an
Israeli shopping mall and seriously wounded four people, including a
2-year-old girl.
Israel's intelligence chief warned that within two years, Hamas would be
able to extend the range of its rockets to 25 miles and put more Israeli
cities at risk.
Wednesday's Grad rocket, which Israeli security officials said was made
in Iran, hit the coastal city of Ashkelon, about nine miles from Gaza.
"We have to put an end to the Hamas government," Vice Premier Haim Ramon
told Israel Radio. "If that decision is made, it will have clear
military significance. The army knows what it has to do, it can be done
in many ways that we are not doing now."
Defense officials were meeting Thursday to discuss a response to the
latest rocket attack.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has held off ordering a major military
offensive in Gaza, in part because Israel would not have a clear exit
strategy and because the fighting would likely bring peace talks with
the moderate Palestinian government in the West Bank to a halt.
---
Associated Press Writer Ibrahim Barzak in Beit Hanoun, Gaza contributed
to this re****t.
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