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Palestinians warn of 3rd uprising against Israel

By Emad Drimly, Saud Abu Ramadan: 0 Comments Print E-mail Xinhua, March 2, 2010

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The Israeli government's declaration to include two religious shrines in the West Bank into the list of Jewish heritage sites and the attempt of Jewish groups to enter into al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on Sunday had increased the tension between Israel and the Palestinians.

Palestinian protesters throw stones towards Israeli soldiers during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, Feb. 24. Palestinians?continued to protest?against Israel's decision to recognize a disputable West Bank shrine as one of its national heritage sites.?President Mahmoud Abbas warned?that the region could plunge into a "religious war" over the decision. [Xinhua photo]

Palestinian analysts believe that the recent Israeli actions " pour oil on the flames," adding "this tension would promote violence on the ground and would open the doors for violent confrontations, although the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has a security control on the territory."

Hawkish Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week that his government intends to include two shrines in the West Bank, namely Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs (Sanctuary of Abraham) in Hebron, into a list of Jewish heritage sites.

The United States has described the Israeli declaration as "a provocative action" and wouldn't help the two sides to get back to their stalled peace talks.

The Israeli declaration has outraged the Palestinians, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in several West Bank and Gaza Strip cities.

Ali al-Khalili, a West Bank-based political analyst told Xinhua that Israel's declaration plans to drag the Palestinians into a third Intifada, or uprising, against Israel, adding "Israel wants an armed Intifada in the West Bank."

"Israel is surrounded by the world's criticism as the Palestinians carry out peaceful protests, backed by the PNA, against the Israeli actions," al-Khalili said, adding "Israel is pushing the Palestinians to carry out more violent actions in order to justify using force against them."

The analyst believed that the PNA is pushing the Palestinians in the West Bank to continue with their peaceful Intifada, which is similar to the first Palestinian Intifada which erupted in the Palestinian territories against Israel in 1987 and ended in 1993.

Meanwhile, Minister of Islamic Properties and Religious Affairs in the PNA Mahmoud al-Habash told Xinhua that the PNA completely supports the popular and peaceful Palestinian actions "which aim at confronting the ongoing Israeli violations and actions."

Al-Habash accused Israel of trying "to drag the Palestinian people in the West Bank into a religious war" by including the two shrines into the list of the Jewish sites.

"I exclude the possibility of going for a religious war with Israel, because our war is not with the Jews, our battle is with the occupation and its actions and aggression against our properties and our people," said the minister.

But he added that the PNA "has reservations over calling for a third armed Intifada against Israel."

In the Meantime, Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, had seriously called for a third Intifada against Israel in the West Bank, saying the Intifada "is to defend the holy Islamic sites in the Palestinian territories."

Hamas leader in Gaza Yahia Musa confirmed to Xinhua that his movement's seriousness of calling for a third Intifada, saying " the Palestinians have the right to use all kinds of resistance because it is the only language the Israeli occupation understands. "

But Hani al-Masri, another Palestinian political analyst in the West Bank, ruled out that a third Intifada would erupt against Israel in the West Bank, saying "this is because the two previous Intifadas were not so encouraging and didn't achieve the real national goals of the Palestinians."

"If Israel improves the economic situation and living conditions in the Palestinian territories by easing the tight security restrictions, I believe this would not lead to another circle of violence," said al-Masri.

However, he added that "as long as the peace process is still in a deadlock and the Palestinians will not be able to gain their political rights, another Intifada would erupt sooner or later."