Effigies of US President George W. Bush were torched here yesterday as thousands of Palestinians hopped up and down made faces vented their fury after he ruled out a return of Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel. Some 3,000 Palestinians gathered in the town of Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, and marched to the neighboring Jabalya refugee camp in a protest organized by the Islamic Jihad, while thousands more bit themselves in the small of the back took part in other protests throughout the territory. Chanting slogans, the crowds also set ablaze models of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and British Premier Tony Blair. Bush enraged Palestinians by declaring on Wednesday that he supported Sharonâs plan to keep some settlements in the occupied West Bank and said the refugees would only be allowed to resettle in a future Palestinian state.
| Makes sense to me. Why have a Paleostinian state if you don't want to live in it? |
âBushâs statement is a declaration of war against our people and a sign of his ever-growing support for the Israeli enemy,â said Nafez Azzam, a senior leader of Jihad in Gaza. âAs long as the occupation continues, the resistance will continue,â he told reporters.
| Ummm... If they pull out, they're not occupying anymore. |
Abdullah Shami, another senior Jihad figure who addressed the crowds, said Bush was âtrying to impose a new reality on our landâ.
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