OCCUPIED JERUSALEM/JEDDAH, 10 July — A Palestinian mother of seven watched helplessly as Israeli bulldozers tore down her home in a refugee camp in east Jerusalem yesterday, one of 14 homes destroyed in an action that triggered clashes between protesting residents and Israeli border guards.
Palestinian officials branded the destruction of the houses a “provocation” that could further inflame tensions in Israeli-occupied Arab East Jerusalem after more than nine months of deadly regional violence. “I sacrificed my house for the safety of my children,” Hindumah Muhammad Ali, 56, told reporters as her home in the Shufat refugee camp was turned to rubble. Residents clashed with dozens of heavily armed Israeli border guards, while an Israeli helicopter flew over the area. Israeli forces also removed a number of Israeli human rights activists trying to bar the way of the bulldozers.
In Jeddah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd stated yesterday that Arab countries are capable of working jointly to confront the challenges facing them, especially the Israeli brutalities against unarmed Palestinians. Addressing the weekly Cabinet meeting, the Saudi leader said the international efforts to restore peace in the Middle East must be translated into practical steps on the ground to foil the Israeli moves to abort them.
King Fahd again reminded the international community of its joint responsibility to stop Israel’s aggressive practices in occupied Palestinian territories, saying the Israeli atrocities violated human rights and UN principles. The Cabinet meeting reviewed the outcome of the recent foreign tour by Crown Prince Abdullah.
Meanwhile, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned Israel yesterday to stop threatening to get rid of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, saying the region’s problems would not be solved by force. “It’s very dangerous. They must stop saying things like we’ll kill Arafat, we’ll kill so and so, because they can’t behave like thugs,” Mubarak told journalists near Alexandria.
