Rights groups accuse police of brutality during Nakba protest
Yoav Stern; 19/5/08, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/984991.html
Activists and Arab rights organizations are accusing the Israel Police of brutality against protesters during a procession marking Nakba day 10 days ago in a pilgrimage to the abandoned village of Saphoria in Tzipori. Nakba day, meaning “day of the catastrophe” is an annual day of commemoration for the Palestinian people of the anniversary of the creation of Israel in 1948 (on the same day Israelis celebrate independence), which resulted in their displacement from their land. At a press conference held Monday, the activists presented video footage and photographs showing police officers beating journalists and even smashing the head of one of the protesters who was already handcuffed and sitting on the ground. The police officers and the protesters clashed toward the end of the procession. Officers fired tear gas grenades into the crowd, which, in turn, hurled stones at the officers and passing vehicles.
“Israel’s independence celebrations hollow without true, lasting peace”
Mohammad Ghazal; 19/5/08
His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday said the future begins by “lifting the shadow of catastrophe” and that Israel’s “celebrations of independence are hollow while lasting peace is still denied because of unhealed wrongs”. “The real day of celebration will be here, only when Palestinians and Israelis can both say: I am free. I am safe. The past is behind us,” King Abdullah said yesterday at the opening session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) held on the shores of the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh. The only way to guarantee the rights of the region’s people is a negotiated settlement, King Abdullah said, adding that armed action and barriers are futile.”Force and isolation bring false peace - and false peace is false security. After 60 years, it is past time to create a new basis for the future, one that recognises the needs of all.”
See; http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=7972
Nakbeh
Nermeen Murad;19/5/08
The leader of the world arrived on the 60th anniversary of the forceful occupation of an Arab land to celebrate that defeat with the “enemy”, lauding it for its steadfastness and values. Then he very nicely flew over to Saudi Arabia, the leading state of the Arab world he just ridiculed, to ask it to increase its oil output so that his countrymen wouldn’t suffer the extra expense for this valuable source of fuel. I suspect that every fundamentalist, moderate, liberal or even can-care-less Arab understands this formula well. This man and the countrymen he represents only sort of put up with us because they need the oil we sort of control, but their hearts are really with the state that has dedicated itself over the past 60 years to destroying and humiliating us.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=7960
Tags: Israel, Jordan, Palestinian People, USA