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Politics : The Palestinian Hoax -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (2427)	9/3/2002 8:05:00 AM
From: David Alon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3467

When will peres understand that all the plo wants is the total destruction of Israel,I woulld say,he is part of the problem these days, still trying to convince himself that the pa wants peace. haaretzdaily.com Peres mystified by anti-Israel protests at Joburg summit By The Associated Press Police using a water cannon during clashes with pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Johannesburg on Monday. (Photo: Reuters) JOHANNESBURG – Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, one of the original architects for peace with the Palestinians, said Monday he does not understand why Israel has become a focus of protest as world leaders gathered to fight poverty and protect the environment. "If the Palestinians want independence, we offered independence. If the Palestinians want a Palestinian state, we offered them a Palestinian state... why violence? What for?" Peres said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We can't understand those demonstrators." Shouting "Zionism is Racism" students pelted rocks, bricks and bottles Monday at people leaving a local college after a speech by Peres at an anti-Israel protest Monday. Police fired water cannon to try to break up the demonstrators. Several people were wounded in the melee. About 100 students demonstrated, some shouting that Peres had no right to be in South Africa. A policemen was stabbed in the leg by one of the demonstrators, a police spokesperson said. Four protesters, a journalist from Qatar and two other policemen were wounded, the South African Press Association reported. One person was hit in the head as they tried to leave after the speech, security personnel on the scene said. An Associated Press Television News cameraman was also slightly injured, hit by a flying brick. Clashes with the police left several demonstrators with blood steaming down their faces. Sixteen protesters were arrested. There has been a series of anti-Israeli demonstrations at the summit and a massive protest by civil society groups Saturday was dominated by harsh criticism of Israel, but so far the debate on the Middle East has stayed in the streets and out of official discussions. This is a sharp contrast to last year's United Nations Conference on Racism, also in South Africa, where the Israel-Arab conflict dominated the agenda and world attention. The Palestinian ambassador to South Africa, Salman el-Herfi, said it was natural people would protest against Israel at UN conferences. "People are demonstrating against Israeli aggression and [because of] their anger against the crimes against the Palestinian people ordered by members of the Israeli government, among them Peres," he said. Peres welcomed a European Union peace plan that aims to put the Middle East peace talks back on track and create a Palestinian state by 2005. "I think it can help. Basically we are interested in a harmonization of the European position and the American position," Peres said. "But the real problem as I see it is not another peace plan, but a partner for peace." Peres also defended Israel's much-criticized policy of targeted killings of Palestinian terror suspects, saying Israel was defending itself when it attacked those who he said were on their way to carrying out bombings inside Israel. "We are extremely careful, but unfortunately there are some mistakes which I regret very much," he said. Over the past week, several civilians, including children, have been killed in IDF raids. Peres, who served as prime minister twice, said his days at the helm were over. "I'm not fighting for a post but struggling for a cause," said Peres. "Being at the helm is a complicated problem because then you have to deal with a thousand problems, 900 of them have nothing to do with peace."