What The Palestinians REALLY Want

[Annie]

Is the elimination of Israel, every bit as much as Islam wants total new caliph:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050813/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

Hamas Launches Media War for Gaza Control

By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 11 minutes ago

The militant group Hamas came out of hiding Saturday to hold a mass news conference, distributing the phone numbers of 34 multilingual spokesmen in a fight for control of the Gaza Strip ahead of Israel's withdrawal next week.

As the struggle heats up between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority — both of whom claim responsibility for Israel's evacuation of 21 Gaza Strip settlements and four West Bank enclaves — the weapons of choice are unusually media friendly.

Determined to win the airwaves, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday inaugurated a special Gaza-withdrawal media center, complete with live-feed points for TV crews, a 24-hour text messaging service for news updates, maps, and free hats and T-shirts.

"The center will facilitate the media in all they need. ... A group of Cabinet ministers and officials will be ready at all times to answer your questions," Abbas assured journalists.

Also Saturday, Hamas' founders and top political leaders gathered on the same stage for the first time in a decade, vowing to go on fighting Israel and claiming victory for the impending withdrawal.

The news conference came two days after another Hamas first, inviting TV cameras to film a nighttime training exercise, complete with militants rappelling down high-rise walls and jumping through flaming hoops.

The group decided to hire spokesmen, fluent in Arabic, English and French, "to take on the huge responsibility of educating the world about the importance of the withdrawal," said Mushir Masri, one of the spokesmen.

"The media presence is in high demand especially since the enemy has been defeated and there is no longer a security concern preventing (Hamas) from appearing in public," Masri told The Associated Press.

The Hamas leadership went underground after Israel began targeting the group's highest ranks, including spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, both killed by missile strikes.

But recently Hamas has been openly challenging the Palestinian Authority and even made a strong showing in West Bank and Gaza municipal elections.

At the news conference Saturday, its top leaders said Abbas' Fatah movement could not be the sole decision-making body and insisted Hamas has the right to possess arms.

"Hamas remains committed to the choice of resistance as a strategic choice. Hamas remains committed to its military wing and its right to possess weapons," said Ismail Haniyye.

The Islamic group does not plan to battle the Palestinian Authority but "rejects the idea of allowing any single party to monopolize the decision-making process," he added.

The Hamas news conference came just a day after Abbas attended the first official Palestinian Authority celebration of Israel's upcoming withdrawal, promising his people that the Gaza pullout is a first step to independence.

At Friday's Gaza sea-front rally, Cabinet minister Mohammed Dahlan said all events would take place under the official Palestinian flag — a warning to Hamas, which is planning its own military-style celebrations.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef placed his Gaza forces on their highest alert level Saturday to prevent militants from firing on withdrawing Israeli troops and settlers. Israel has promised to harshly retaliate if that happens.

Palestinian security officers took up positions in Gaza and hundreds were sent to the south, especially near Palestinian refugee camps close to Jewish enclaves.

Within hours, about 200 Palestinian officers made a human chain to prevent some 2,000 demonstrators from marching toward a checkpoint separating the Khan Younis refugee camp from settlements.

Israeli soldiers fired in the air to keep the flag-waving demonstrators back. A local Fatah leader told the crowd to save its energy for after the Israeli withdrawal when they can enter their "liberated lands."

In Jerusalem, Israeli police were on heightened alert for fear thousands of Jews would clash with Muslims at a disputed holy shrine.

Tens of thousands of observant Jews were expected to pray at the Western Wall on the eve of a 24-hour mourning fast commemorating the destruction of the biblical Jewish Temples 2,000 years ago. Muslim clerics urged followers to gather at the Al-Aqsa mosque, overlooking the wall, to protect it from Jews.

The contested site is important to both sides. Jews venerate it as the location of the biblical Temples and Judaism's holiest shrine, while Muslims revere it as the place were the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

Israeli police limited the age of Muslim worshippers Saturday to men over 45 in an attempt to prevent clashes, police spokesman Shmulik Ben-Ruby said.

 

[dilloduck]

I'm not sure the average Palestinian even knows what they want. All we hear is the usual blabber form Hamas and thats probably all they hear too. I imagine some Palestinians would settle for a land of thier own without the destruction of Israel but we don't hear about them.

 

[José]

I&#8217;m not sure the average black South African even knew what they wanted. All we heard was the usual blabber from the <B>ANC (African National Congress)</B> and that was probably all they heard too. I imagine some black South Africans would settle for a land of their own (the so-called Bantustans) without the destruction of South Africa under apartheid but we didn't hear about them.