WEST BANK: AS ISRAEL PREPARES TO RELEASE PALESTINIAN PRISONERS ON THE ROAD MAP TO PEACE, TROOPS DETAIN ACTIVISTS WHO TRY TO BLOCK CONSTRUCTION OF FENCE IN WEST BANK

Record ID: 645993

  • Title: WEST BANK: AS ISRAEL PREPARES TO RELEASE PALESTINIAN PRISONERS ON THE ROAD MAP TO PEACE, TROOPS DETAIN ACTIVISTS WHO TRY TO BLOCK CONSTRUCTION OF FENCE IN WEST BANK
  • Date: 5th August 2003
  • Summary: CU PHOTOGRAPHS OF DAUGHTER (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 20th August 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MALLEH ADUMIM, MASHA VILLAGE NEAR QALQILYA AND ARIEL, WEST BANK
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5VKWYKXLWO7ENSCHLZW0S43R3
  • Story Text: As Israel prepares to release Palestinian prisoners on the road map to peace, troops detain activists who try to block construction of fence in West Bank An Israeli woman mourning victims of a suicide attack said on Tuesday (August 5) she could hardly believe Israel was about to free Palestinian prisoners whose families awaited their return with tempered joy.
    "For us, the murderers who took the lives of our beloved deserve the death penalty because our country is an enlightened country that does not promote the death penalty so the minimum that we can give them is jail time to those who killed," said Pnina Aizenman, who lost her mother and five-year-old daughter in a Jerusalem suicide bombing.
    Aizenman, whose home in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim is decorated with photographs of the daughter and mother she lost in June 2002, said the release shook her faith in the government.
    "We see from the lists that the details that were published are very hazy. They did not say explicitly who is responsible for what. And it seems to me that, although they say they want to give people a chance to appeal, there is some sort of attempt behind it to ensure that terror victims do not know for sure if the terrorists on the list took part in the attack in which they were hurt," said Aizenman, who survived the attack along with her two-year-old son.
    Israel on Monday (August 4) published a list of the 342 Palestinian prisoners it plans to free on Wednesday to bolster a U.S.-backed peace plan. None of those on the list was convicted for involvement in suicide attacks.
    The Palestinians want an amnesty for all 6,000 of their jailed compatriots, saying this would show Israel is committed to the road map leading to creation of a Palestinian state by 2005 in territories occupied by Israel since 1967. Israeli troops detained 47 foreign and Is raeli activists who tried to block construction of a security barrier through Palestinian land in the West Bank village of Masha near Qalqilya on Tuesday (August 5).
    The fence is considered to be one of the main obstacles for implementing the U.S.-backed "road map" plan to peace.
    Israel says the barrier is needed to keep out suicide bombers who have killed hundreds of its citizens during a 34-month-old Palestinian uprising for independence.
    Palestinians call the project a land grab that prejudges final borders to be decided only under the "road map" peace plan.
    The barrier, part concrete wall and part metal fence topped with razor wire, is due to cut deep into West Bank territory in some areas, looping around several Jewish settlements.
    The Israeli Army declared the land a closed military area.
    The activists who resisted the arrests were dragged by the Israeli troops to Arierl's Police station in the West Bank. French Italian and British people were among those held.
    "People are being detained because they (the Israeli police) are accusing them of being violent towards the army, and we are just detained, we haven't been charged by anything yet" International Solidarity Movement activist said while being held at police station.
    Israeli police said the Interior Ministry would consider deporting the foreign activists.
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