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Fatah Calls for Escalation of Palestinian Uprising Updated 8:51 AM ET December 30, 2000 By Wafa Amr JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction called on Saturday for two weeks of escalation in the uprising against Israeli occupation and to usher in 2001 as the year of Palestinian independence. ``The movement appeals to all its cadres to make the next two weeks days of distinguished resistance..,'' it said, using an Arabic euphemism for intensified struggle. Fatah, celebrating the 36th anniversary of its creation by Arafat and a small group of colleagues in exile, said in a statement that it rejected a blueprint for a final peace settlement proposed by President Clinton. ``Fatah, on its 36th anniversary, reiterates its total rejection of the American ideas which are originally an Israeli plan for a settlement that aims to cancel our national rights based on international laws,'' the statement said. The Palestinian leadership has said it cannot accept Clinton's ideas as a basis for a final deal, and needs clarification on sensitive issues such as the fate of Jerusalem, settlements, borders, and refugees. Palestinians say it would be a disaster to accept the U.S. ideas in their present form. The blueprint would reportedly give them sovereignty over some areas in Arab East Jerusalem, while Israel would maintain control of the Jewish quarter and western part of the city. Leaks of the plan show it would also include giving Palestinians sovereignty over the upper part of the Jerusalem holy site known to Arabs as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, while Israel would have control beneath the site and over the Western Wall. The U.S.-brokered Camp David summit in July failed after Arafat rejected Israeli-U.S. proposals that do not give Palestinians sovereignty over most of East Jerusalem, including al-Haram al-Sharif. ``Fatah reiterates that continuing the Intifada is the only choice capable of achieving independence and sweeping occupation,'' the group's statement said. Fatah is the largest and most influential Palestinian faction that rules the Palestine Liberation Organization. It also forms the backbone of the Palestinian Authority. The group led armed struggle against Israel until Arafat signed the interim Oslo peace deals in 1993, and has led three months of Palestinian Intifada against Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza. At least 346 people, all Palestinians except for 13 Israeli Arabs and 41 Israelis, have been killed in the bloodshed. |
The Case Agianst Israel's Enemies by Alan Dershowitz 
Coming from England and particularly from the BBC, MUST BE SEEN VIDEO! ANOTHER MUST SEE VIDEO |