JERUSALEM — Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat over the weekend praised the thousands of Palestinians who demonstrated against Jewish settlement activity during last week’s “Day of Anger.”
The Palestinian Authority also warned Israel’s Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak that the protests would continue if Barak does not reverse the settlement policies of his predecessor.
“Settlement aggression will push the already fragile situation to the edge of an explosion,” the Palestinian Authority said in a statement released after its weekly cabinet meeting on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon, Israeli soldiers dispersed scores of Palestinians who threw stones and bottles at troops stationed at Rachel’s Tomb by the entrance to Bethlehem. According to reports one Palestinian woman was seriously wounded by a rubber bullet.
Two days earlier, thousands of Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The demonstrations took place in at least nine locations, with Palestinians marching on settlements and Israeli army posts. In scenes reminiscent of the intifada, Israeli soldiers used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowds during the widespread demonstrations.
During one incident near the West Bank town of Hebron, a Palestinian was killed by Israeli troops when he tried to drive through a roadblock. The troops said the driver, who died of his injuries after being taken to a local hospital, had tried to run them over.
At least three Israeli soldiers and 10 Palestinians were wounded during the widespread clashes.
The Palestinian Authority had declared Thursday of last week a “Day of Anger” and urged widespread protests against Jewish settlement activity. Arafat is concerned that Barak will harden his position on settlements as part of an effort to lure hard-line parties into his governing coalition.
Earlier last week, Barak issued guidelines for his ongoing coalition negotiations indicating his opposition to the construction of new settlements, but allowing for the natural growth of existing ones — a position not unlike that of his predecessor.
Activity on Thursday of last week took place across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
At a hilltop near the West Bank town of Nablus where demonstrators protested the expansion of two Jewish settlements, an Israeli soldier shot a man in the face with a rubber bullet. The man, later identified as a plainclothes Palestinian policeman, was listed in serious condition at a Nablus hospital.
In Hebron, Israeli security forces prevented hundreds of Palestinians from marching toward the Cave of the Patriarchs.
Near the West Bank village of Youssouf, several Palestinians were wounded by rubber bullets fired by Israeli troops. One Israeli border police guard was also hurt.
In Gaza, three Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded as hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the Netzarim settlement and threw firebombs and rocks.
In predominantly Arab eastern Jerusalem, where merchants observed a strike, marchers carried banners reading, “Barak, Listen, the Palestinian People Will Not Kneel.”
Israeli security officials expressed overall satisfaction with efforts by Palestinian police to maintain order in those areas under their control.
Near Bethlehem, Palestinian police dispersed demonstrators trying to throw rocks at Israeli troops stationed at Rachel’s Tomb, and the police also prevented some 2,000 demonstrators from marching on a West Bank settlement near the village of Dir Kadis.
Police did not permit a planned procession from the Temple Mount to the Ras al-Amud neighborhood following prayers last Friday in Jerusalem.