Barghouthi: rate of Israeli attacks against, and killing of Palestinians doubled since Annapolis

[ProgressiveMuslim]

Date: 10 / 01 / 2008 Time: 15:21



Ramallah – Ma'an – The rate of Israeli attacks on and killings of Palestinians has doubled since the US-sponsored Annapolis peace summit, former Palestinian information minister and head of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Barghouthi, announced on Wednesday.

As US President George W. Bush's visited the Palestinian Territories Dr Barghouthi exposed the extent of Israel's aggression against the Palestinian people in 2007, a year characterised by the highest ever ratio of Palestinian to Israeli killings, and unabated settlement expansion.

Dr Barghouthi presented data showing that Israeli military
killings of, and attacks against Palestinians have soared by 100%
since Annapolis, confirming an intensification of Israeli military
violence against the Palestinian people even after the meeting on 27
November 2007.

He highlighted that the ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed in
2007 had risen to 40:1, up from 30:1 in 2006 and 4:1 from 2000-2005.

"We do not want anyone to die, Israeli or Palestinian, but this ratio
is alarming. It is unacceptable to justify such large-scale killings
under the pretext of security," Barghouthi said, adding that five of
the Israelis killed in 2007 were soldiers who died whilst carrying out
attacks inside the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

"Israel uses security as a pretext to step up its aggression against
Palestinians and to evade any commitments to peace," he went on.

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