DATE=10/03/00
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-267410
TITLE=ISRAEL / ARABS VIOLENCE (L ONLY)
BYLINE=ROSS DUNN
DATELINE=UM-EL-FAHM
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Israel's prime minister, Ehud Barak, is gambling that his appeal for peace to Israeli Arab leaders will end the violence that has gripped their towns and villages. Ross Dunn reports from Um-el-Fahm in Israel's north that angry Arab residents say the government can no longer count on their loyalty after the police opened fire at them during the recent rioting.
TEXT: It used to be that most Israelis traveled freely in their own country and simply steered away from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Besides Jewish settlers and soldiers, few Israelis dared to visit these territories, which became no-go areas following the Palestinian uprising, known as the intifada.
But now, more than a decade after that violent rebellion began, whole Arab areas inside Israel itself are off-limits to Jewish citizens, following the recent clashes.
Even normally sleepy Arab towns and villages have been turned into war zones in the past few days, as the residents vent their anger against the Israeli government.
While Um-el-Fahm, an hour's drive northeast of Tel Aviv, is known as an Islamic stronghold, on most days, Israeli Jews had not been afraid to drive on the highway that leads to the municipality. Some even shopped there.
But Tuesday, police ordered all Jewish drivers to turn back and seek another route around the town.
The Israeli police roadblock is situated a few kilometers from where, closer to the town, angry masked youths have set up burning barricades.
Mr. Mohammed Mahamid, a lawyer in Um-el-Fahm, says the Israeli government should have realized it would reap the whirlwind after opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, walked on hallowed Islamic ground in Jerusalem's walled Old City.
He says the residents of Um-el-Fahm believed they had to rise up in defense of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques, in a compound regarded as the third most sacred in the Muslim world.
/// OPT /// The area is also the known as the Temple Mount, site of the holy Jewish temples in biblical times.
/// OPT /// But Mr. Mahamid says Jews have no right to claim possession of the shrine.
/// OPT /// He says Israeli Arabs can cope with what he says is their second-class status in a Jewish state, but nothing could inflame their passions more than an attempt by, what he calls, infidels to claim sovereignty over the Muslim holy places. /// END OPT ///
/// MAHAMID ACT ///
Don't touch Al-Aqsa and no problems, believe me if they don't touch the Al-Aqsa. And the Al-Aqsa now it's very dangerous because the Israeli government and the Israeli people and the Jewish people want Al-Aqsa and we don't give any centimeter from Al-Aqsa. Al-Aqsa is for the Muslim, for the Arabic people. We don't give anything from Al-Aqsa to any government of Israel.
/// END ACT ///
The town's outrage over Mr. Sharon's visit to Al-Aqsa is evident at a junction on the edge of the town. In recent days, angry crowds have gathered there to set fire to cars and trucks, and traffic light poles have been pulled down. There is an atmosphere of anarchy.
Scenes like this have become ever so familiar for years in the West Bank and Gaza, but rarely has such savage force visited Arab towns inside Israel.
/// OPT /// On the hills of Um-el-Fahm, the affluent mansion-like homes of some of the richer residents remain intact, but the scene on the plain below could hardly be distinguished from a Palestinian town in turmoil. /// END OPT ///
One of the most chilling sights is that of a ring of stones around a pool of blood. The stones and blood have become a memorial to a 21-year-old Arab who died from bullet wounds.
Inside the circle is a bullet shell, a used tear-gas pellet and the slingshot, he had used in his battle against Israeli security forces.
Shouting residents retrace the dried drops of blood leading to the spot, where the young man fell and died of his wounds.
The women and children of the town remain in their homes, as angry Arab youths and men linger in the streets outside, vowing to avenge those killed in the clashes. (Signed)
NEB/RD/KL/JWH
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