BBC Monitoring Headlines, Quotes From Palestinian Press 18 Jan 08

Jan 18, 04:22 AM

Headlines

Al-Quds: President [Mahmud Abbas] threatens to resign and freeze negotiations if Israeli aggression on Gaza continues - He also threatened to resign and stop the negotiations as a result of the continued settlement expansion in the West Bank ... Reliable sources: Jordanian-Egyptian contacts with Washington and Israel to end Israeli aggression - Thirty martyrs have fallen and more than 200 people have been wounded as a result of the Israeli aggression in the past 10 days ... [Prime Minister Salam] Fayyad to go on European tour soon to discuss Israeli escalation and ways to lift siege - He might also visit a number of Arab states

Al-Hayat al-Jadidah: Washington justifies Israeli killing but urges it to avoid killing civilians in Gaza - The US urged Israel yesterday to avoid as much as possible harming civilians in the Gaza Strip ... Eight martyrs and 10 people wounded while massacre in Gaza continues - A woman martyred with her two sons and another martyred with her husband in two raids on a car and a cart

Al-Ayyam: Israel decides to close all crossings into Gaza Strip - A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Ministry said that this step comes in light of the continued rocket launching from Gaza

Filastin: [Ousted] government: there are positive but "unannounced initiatives" which we will deal with to end the [inter- Palestinian] division - Its spokesman Tahir al-Nunu said that he does not rule out that the escalating Israeli aggression is a prelude towards assassinating [ousted] Prime Minister Isma'il Haniyah

Quotes

Al-Quds: [From editorial] "The two letters of condolences which President Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad sent to prominent Hamas leader Mahmud al-Zahhar - following the martyrdom of his son Husam in the aerial and land Israeli aggression on Tuesday in Gaza - are more than just mere humane gestures to offer condolences to Al-Zahhar... The Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip hope that this will be a prelude towards some kind of a long-awaited dialogue between the largest two Palestinian factions. This dialogue that should be expedited because of the local, regional, and international situations."

[From commentary by Faysal Abu-Khadrah] "We naturally do not blame the US administrations for their [support of Israel] because that is their own business and are considered to be nothing more than zeroes by the United States and other powers. We only blame ourselves. Here is Bush leaving the region without solving any of its hanging issues. On the contrary, the deterioration and Israeli escalation have only increased."

Al-Hayat al-Jadidah: [From commentary by Ahmad Dahbur] "In light of the ultimate support the US administration offers to the Zionist ogre, the aggression on our people looks so easy. It reminds us of the famous statement made by the famous Israeli terrorist [and late prime Minister] Menahem Bagen about his soldiers' bayonets penetrating the Palestinian bodies like a hot blade cutting through butter. After 60 years, the vicious acts of 1948 are re-enacted with the same viciousness."

Al-Ayyam: [From commentary by Rajab Abu-Surayyah] "Had the contacts made by the president and leadership of the Palestinian Authority with Hamas taken place before the painful and ugly Israeli massacre in Al-Zayytun neighbourhood in Gaza, this would have had an extremely important political significance... Nevertheless, these contacts contain a number of messages which should be picked up. Hopefully, the decision makers will understand that there is a supreme Palestinian value of the unity of Palestinian blood which transcends all discords and struggles."

[From commentary by Muhammad Yaghi] "The important question that should be asked is whether the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah understands that the political negotiations will not lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders but rather to something close to that. Similarly, they will not return the refugees according to their own understanding the way that we will not have full sovereignty over Jerusalem. So why not be frank and reveal all of this now to the people instead of surprising them later on."

Filastin: [From commentary by Mustafa al-Sawwaf] "The [Israeli] enemy does not understand anything but force and it will continue to bleed us until it starts heavily bleeding. As for us, we will not be hurt anymore than we are being hurt now. We believe that the course of life is predestined and life is temporary, but we have to follow God's orders to `Be careful, muster as much force as possible to meet the enemy and learn the lessons and conclusions'."

Sources: as listed

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Newsfile. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. BBC Monitoring Headlines, Quotes From Palestinian Press 18 Jan 08
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