Posted on 04/27/2002 11:26:25 AM PDT by tomahawk
Palestinian militant vows new Jenin - based fight
By Mark Heinrich
JENIN, West Bank, April 27 (Reuters) - A Palestinian militant leader has resurfaced in Jenin refugee camp after weeks in hiding, vowing to pursue the fight against Israel.
"If the Israelis believe they have eradicated the infrastructure of resistance here, they are wrong. Despite all our losses, it will rise again from these ashes stronger than before," Jamal Abdul Salam al-Heija of the Islamic militant group Hamas told Reuters on Friday night.
Flags of militant factions whose suicide bombings goaded Israel to storm West Bank towns have sprouted from heaps of rubble in the camp since the army pulled out a week ago after routing Palestinian gunmen in ferocious fighting.
A U.N. mission to clarify what happened during the army onslaught was expected to leave Geneva for Tel Aviv at the weekend after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan agreed to delay it until after an Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday morning.
"A whole generation will grow up convinced that revenge must be exacted for the destruction and massacres that happened here," said Heija, 42, a former teacher and father of nine.
"We lost many martyrs but it doesn't matter. The resistance will resume and it will not take long," he added, cradling the stump of his left arm which he said he lost during an Israeli raid into the camp two months ago.
"I've met some of our survivors in the street but a number of our people are missing -- how many are dead, how many captured, we don't know, as the Israelis have not listed everyone they seized," he said.
Israel denies Palestinian allegations of a massacre, saying the army killed about 50 people, mostly fighters, and lost 23 soldiers dead in what it calls a "nest of terror" from which 23 suicide attacks were launched. Several thousand refugees lost their homes to tank and helicopter fire and army bulldozers.
ESCAPE INTO HIDING Heija, on an Israeli list of wanted Palestinian militants, said he escaped the camp as the army attacked on April 3 and hid in a cave on Jenin's outskirts along with four bodyguards.
"We had expected the Israelis to attack so we had prepared a lot of canned food to see us through a long period of hiding if necessary," he said.
Heija said he slipped back into the camp on Wednesday, three days after Israeli forces vacated Jenin. By Friday, troops and tanks that had continued to encircle the town on nearby hills were gone, and Heija was moving freely inside the camp.
"Be careful. There are undercover Israelis around who could grab you," said one of the many passers-by who greeted and hugged Heija. His two mobile phones rang often.
"I don't worry about it," he murmured later, contemplating the camp's pulverised main square. "I trust in God that I will be a martyr (in battle) before I'm arrested."
Heija said about half the Palestinian casualties in Jenin were Hamas militants. The group had run out of ammunition, but its organisation had survived.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have erected painted banners on the rubble, showing pictures and names of militants said to be lying beneath. "They are shrines to our resistance," said Heija.
Green, black and white flags of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, are pitched alongside.
Heija said the immediate task was humanitarian relief, adding that he was seeking legal help for detainees, shelter for the homeless and medical treatment for the sick and wounded.
He said his own home had been gutted by a helicopter missile but his family escaped unharmed. Israel was holding a 17-year-old son, the Hamas leader added.
No doubt, the Pal terrorists will plant more explosives there, like last time, and prevent civilians from leaving, like last time, to make it look even worse. Then the Pali Symps and UN will call it an Israeli war crime.
The effort to smear Israel and label it with "war crimes" for excising the suicide/homicide maniacs from the Jenin "refugee camp" is demonic.
Stop the campaign of Palestinian and Media Whore lies.
"Tis but a scratch! None can defeat the Black Knight!"
|
For a dose of truth: |
|
| WSJ: The Massacre That Wasn't - Part I http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/668601/posts Non-evidence and Pali fabrication of evidence |
Steyn: The UN is running out of blind eyes to turn http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/669411/posts Interesting link on UN backpedaling |
| WSJ: The Massacre That Wasn't - Part II http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/669632/posts Palestinians drop their hyped-up "massacre" charges |
The Massacre That Never Was http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/668572/posts The testimony of pathological liars |
| WSJ: The Massacre That Wasn't - Part III http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/672189/posts Hey, Jimmy Carter has an opinion too!! |
There was No Massacre in Jenin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/668650/posts Gullible acceptance of Pali lies tells much |
| WSJ: The Massacre That Wasn't - Part IV http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/672160/posts Yet more non-evidence and Pali fabrication of evidence |
NY POST: THE MASSACRE THAT WASN'T http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/667529/posts Peres: There wasn't a house that wasn't booby-trapped |
| WSJ: The Massacre That Wasn't - Part V http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/673145/posts The Pali's contradict themselves and blame it on Israel |
Steyn: It's time to snap out of Arab fantasy land http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/669063/posts Some great Oriana Fallaci quotes/links as well |
| WSJ: The Massacre That Wasn't - Part VI http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/678521/posts Pali grave-digging and UN jury-rigging |
Jenin's 'Massacre' Death Toll Reduced to 56 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/675752/posts Say it slow: Israel told the truth; Palis did not |
|
An interesting juxtaposition of tales: |
|
| Message From An Israeli On The Front Lines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/673234/posts "Entire families exploded themselves! It was horrific." |
Palestinian Fighter admits: No Massacre in Jenin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/671903/posts 2,000 bombs and booby-traps placed in the camp |
| Pediatrician: terrorists used children in Jenin camp http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/670962/posts Doc: IDF did everything possible to avoid civilian harm |
Palestinians Booby-Trap Wheelchair in Jenin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/670810/posts NOTE: The wheelchair was occupied!! |
| Jenin War Diary of a Hasidic Soldier - Part I http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/672951/posts Israeli citizen-soldier describes what went on in Jenin |
Massacre Claims Unsupported by Pali Fighters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/675129/posts Pali eyewitnesses all support the Israeli version |
| Jenin War Diary of a Hasidic Soldier - Part II http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/678298/posts There is no army as humane as the IDF |
Palestinian fighter's version of the Jenin battle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/672896/posts Pali Plan: Trap Israeli soldiers, then blow them up |
|
The Press: Controversy, Yes! Truth, No! |
|
| Atrocities of the British Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/669206/posts Huge amounts of ink devoted to unverified Pali tales |
Reporters Back Down From Jenin "Massacre" Reports http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/668509/posts World press forced to face the truth: No Massacre |
| The Media and 'The Massacre' http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/668719/posts Quick to report fantasy, slow to correct errors |
The Big Jenin Lie http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/679694/posts Pali Propaganda Panned in Record Time - Thanks FR! |
|
We're from the UN. We're Here to Help. |
|
| The Overseers of Jenin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/675737/posts UN runs camps that are centers for terror |
U.N.'s Point Man In Jenin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/673541/posts Arafat's various militias count on Mr. Roed-Larsen |
| Guilty until proven guilty http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/675043/posts Surprise! UN has a not-so-hidden agenda |
The Jenin Probe Ends http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/675737/posts UN unhappy about Israel's possible exhoneration |
|
And so, in conclusion: |
|
| The 'Jenin Massacre' Hoax http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/677148/posts Living in a world of monstrous moral inversion |
The Phantom Massacre http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/672761/posts War Crimes in Jenin were committed by the Palis |
| Terrorists admit they carried out atrocities http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/679306/posts Fanatics use women, children, old men, cripples |
Jenin's War Criminals http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/675340/posts What the Palestinians did was the real war crime |
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.