MIDDLE EAST-: Israelis protest prisoner release, Palestinians prepare to celebrate

Record ID: 838122

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST-: Israelis protest prisoner release, Palestinians prepare to celebrate
  • Date: 29th December 2013
  • Summary: BITUNYA, WEST BANK (FILE - AUGUST 14, 2013) (REUTERS) VEHICLE CARRYING RELEASED PRISONERS DRIVING THROUGH CROWD PEOPLE RUNNING AFTER VEHICLES CARRYING RELEASED PRISONERS FIRE WORKS IN THE SKY WIDE OF PALESTINIANS GREETING RELEASED PRISONERS, CHEERING AND WAVING FLAGS PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS ARRIVING, LINKING HANDS WITH RELEASED PRISONERS AND WAVING MORE OF PEOPLE GREETING PRISONERS MORE OF CROWD CHEERING
  • Embargoed: 13th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACQ9PHSUXG1BV76KADMPAQ1SS8
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: A day ahead of the expected release of the third batch of Palestinian prisoners agreed upon for the promotion of peace talks, Israelis protest and Palestinians prepare for celebrations.

    Israel is expected to release 26 Palestinian prisoners on Monday (December 30), the third group to be free since the U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinians resumed in July.
    The prisoners had been jailed for deadly violence committed before a 1993 Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accord.
    The release, opposed by many Israelis, is seen by the United States as an important next-step toward reaching an interim peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians by April.
    At a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday (December 29) Israeli minister of tourism Uzi Landau said he regretted the decision but confirmed the government would honour its commitments.
    "The release of terrorists and murderers is something which is absolutely regrettable. We've made a mistake by agreeing to go in this direction. But once the Israeli government took a decision we have to go on as long as the situation will not be exacerbated, but unfortunately we'll have to go on with that," said Landau.
    A small group of Israeli protesters rallied in Jerusalem on Sunday displaying posters with photographs of the victims of Palestinian attacks and condemning Prime Minister Netanyahu for the decision to release the prisoners. 'Not the Leader, a Liar,' read the inscription under Netanyahu's photograph.
    "We don't believe it. We suffer, but not only myself suffer, we suffer from all the nation. The murderers, the terrorists come to kill not specifically me or specifically my family, they come to kill all the Jewish nation. And now we have like this, what happened to us? this is the questions. What happened to us?" said Dov Kalmanovitch who was badly injured during the first Palestinian intifada.
    The inmates, who were convicted of killing Israelis and jailed before or just after the first Israeli-Palestinian interim peace deals were signed 20 years ago, would be released as part of a limited amnesty demanded by the Palestinians to revive long-stalled statehood negotiations.
    In West Bank and Gaza the relatives of the inmates started to prepare for the return by decorating the streets of their home towns.
    "I can't describe the feeling. We have been waiting for this moment for years. Yesterday we were so nervous and stayed awake until 12 AM. Honestly, the happiness is not complete because our cousins are still in prisons and many other youths are serving long sentences," said Nizar whose brother Ahmad Shahade is expected to return to his family house in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
    Ahmad Shahade's mother, Um Ahmad, still finds it hard to take in the news of her son's return.
    "I will not believe it until I see him. They said his name was on the list but I will only believe that when I see him with my own eyes and hold him in my arms," she said.
    In all, 104 long-serving Palestinian inmates will be freed in accordance with the U.S.-brokered understandings that paved the way for the revival of peace talks.
    The plan for the release of the third group of prisoners was overshadowed by an announcement by Israel on Friday that it intends to build 1,400 homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said would "destroy the peace process" and could be met with retaliation.
    The Palestinians see the Jewish settlements as an obstacle to achieving a viable state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Most countries consider Israel's settlements there illegal.
    The United States is seeking to broker an agreement on a "two-state solution" in which Israel would exist peacefully alongside a new Palestinian state.
    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected travel to Jerusalem and Ramallah on Wednesday (January 1) for more talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, resuming his intensive shuttle diplomacy after a Christmas break.
    Kerry wants the sides to agree to a framework for an interim accord ahead of a deal in April, which would launch another year of talks aimed at a full-blown peace treaty. A framework would demonstrate that progress is being made in talks that began in July, according to U.S. officials.
    A framework would touch on all the main issues, including security, the future of Jerusalem and the fate of refugees.
    During his last visit to the region on Dec. 13, Kerry said both sides remained committed to peace talks and were on course to wrap up an interim deal in April.
    A previous round of negotiations in 2010 broke down in a dispute over settlement construction, and peace talks have shown little sign of progress since their revival this year.
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