"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

PA: Hebron tensions could erupt into all-out confrontation

The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday called on the Israeli government to pull all the settlers out of Hebron and warned that the growing tensions in the city could erupt into an all-out confrontation.PA officials in Ramallah said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas was considering requesting an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the situation in Hebron in the wake of the recent attacks carried out by settlers against Arab residents.In a message to the members of the Quartet, Abbas condemned the assaults as a 'despicable crime" against innocent civilians and demanded that the international community exert pressure on Israel to remove the settlers from the city."The presence of the Jewish settlers in the city is a serious provocation," the PA officials said. "Unless the [Israeli] government removes them from the city, there will be a big explosion."Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for Abbas, accused the IDF of "collusion" with the settlers in launching attacks on Palestinian residents of Hebron. He said that the latest violence in the city was part of an "organized terrorism campaign" against the Palestinians.The settlers, Abu Rudaineh added, "constitute a real danger to the Palestinians and their lands."A PA security commander in Hebron said the settlers' actions were threatening to foil the PA security forces' efforts to impose law and order in the city and its surroundings."The Israeli government's failure to stop the settlers is threatening our security plan," he said. "We have been working hard to restore law and order and our efforts have thus far been very successful. But what the settlers are doing now poses a major threat to our efforts."The official added that he was particularly surprised by the IDF's "soft" handling of the settler violence. "When an Arab throws a stone, the Israeli soldiers often open fire at him," he pointed out. "But when a Jew attacks the homes of Palestinians and throws stones at them, the soldiers hardly do anything to stop him."
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
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