DUBAI, 8 December 2002 — Newspapers in the Kingdom and rest of the Gulf region yesterday voiced outrage at the deaths of 10 Palestinians during Eid Al-Fitr and accused Israel of a massacre on the Gaza Strip as a “gift to the Palestinian people for the annual Islamic festival.”
“This massacre is the Eid gift for Palestinians from the man US President George Bush likes to call a ‘man of peace’,” said Qatar’s Al-Watan daily referring to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
“Israel, which likes to remind the world that it is the most barbarous and bloody state, has given an Eid gift to the Palestinians by carrying out a new massacre,” said Saudi daily Al-Watan.
For Jeddah-based Al-Madinah, “Sharon has attacked the sacred nature of the Eid,” following a message from Bush to Muslims.
The daily urged Washington to “take a clear stance on this massacre carried out in the middle of a Muslim festival, the importance of which to most families could be compared to Christmas in the Christian West.”
In Doha, Al-Raya urged the Arabs “to change strategy and tactics in the face of Israel and those who support it in the United States. “The massacre message is that the terrorist Sharon no longer takes any account of the anger of Arabs and Muslims,” said the Dubai government daily Al-Bayan.
Al-Khaleej, in the neighboring emirate of Sharjah, said the Israeli operation required a new definition of terrorism to be drawn up.
“What is terrorism if not targeting innocents in their homes in the middle of a religious festival?” the daily asked.
The European Union yesterday joined the United Nations in strongly condemning the Israeli raid on Al-Bureij refugee camp in which 10 Palestinians, including two UN employees, were killed.
The US State Department called on Israel to consider the consequences of its military actions in the occupied territories.
The Palestinians died early Friday when some 40 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles, backed by helicopters, stormed the densely populated camp. (AFP)
