.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Says PA police can use weapons against troops in 'self-defense'
By Jon E. Dougherty
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
Palestinian Authority officials have authorized their police officers to use firearms against Israeli troops "for self-defense" and to protect Palestinian citizens if they come under attack from Israel Defense Force soldiers.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the PA authorized the new policy following Israel's helicopter gunship attack against Palestinian security offices in Gaza on Monday.
Israeli military forces acted in retaliation against a Palestinian attack against an Israeli school bus earlier Monday morning.
In that attack, three Palestinians who were hiding in bushes along a road near a Jewish community in Gaza set off an explosion that riddled the armor-plated bus, killing two adults and injuring nine others, including five children.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak had vowed to begin retaliatory operations against Palestinian security forces and other officials of the military Fatah faction -- which is loyal to Arafat -- for any attacks against Israeli citizens.
Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, secretary-general of the Palestinian Authority, told a news conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday that the decision had been made to authorize PA police officers to "use guns to protect demonstrators who come under Israeli army fire in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," the Post said.
He blamed Israel for shooting "the peace process in the heart" after Monday's missile assault, and he accused the Barak government of attempting to "destroy the Palestinian Authority and [the] Fatah [movement].
"Our policemen will now use their guns in self-defense in areas under our full sovereignty. They have the right to respond," Abdel-Rahman said.
At the same time, other Fatah leaders said they had orders to begin attacking Israeli troops and Jewish settlers in Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Arafat surveyed the damage late Monday, officials said, and visited some of the 60-odd people who were wounded. Two Palestinian policemen also died in the raid.
Meanwhile, officials in the U.S. issued their harshest criticism yet of Israel's use of force, saying it would lead nowhere and that the peace process would be permanently damaged if retaliatory attacks continued.
"The Israelis also need to understand that the excessive use of force is not the right way to go," said a State Department press release on Tuesday, issued in the wake of Israel's PA security complex attack.
However, the State Department also described as "heinous" the Palestinian attack against the Israeli school bus, and called on the Palestinian Authority to likewise condemn it.
"Both sides need to exercise restraint and responsibility under the Sharm el-Sheik agreement," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, referring to a truce agreed to by Arafat and Barak last month.
Yesterday, Palestinian attackers struck back against the Jewish state by detonating a car bomb during rush hour near a busy bus station in the Jewish community of Hadera.
The bomb wounded about 45 people and killed two others, Israeli security officials said. The bomb was so powerful nearby stores caught fire after the explosion.
Barak immediately condemned the attack and vowed that Israel would "get even."
Labeling the bombing "barbaric," Barak said in a statement, "Israel will get even with those who carried out the attack, and their messengers."
Related stories:
Hamas, Fatah factions plan terrorist attacks
Unknown group claims killing of Israeli