Military

DATE=11/02/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-268755

TITLE=MIDEAST VIOLENCE / REACT (L ONLY)

BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB

DATELINE=CAIRO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The latest violence in the Middle East comes as Palestinian and Israeli leaders were preparing to announce a ceasefire aimed at ending more than a month of clashes. Middle East correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our bureau in Cairo that Palestinian officials and commentators say they are not optimistic.

TEXT: The Palestinian Authority's permanent representative to the Arab League, Mohammed Sobaih, says his group has been trying to stop the hostilities, but he accuses the Israeli government of being slow to end the confrontation.

And he says people in the Arab world are angered by the sight of the Israeli forces using tanks and missiles to stop children throwing stones.

/// SOBAIH ACT IN ARABIC ///

Permanent Representative Sobaih says the Israeli government wants to scare the Palestinian people into accepting a peace that partitions the al-Aqsa Mosque and sacred Muslim areas, a reference to recent proposals to share sovereignty over East Jerusalem. But, he says, not even a Palestinian child will be scared into accepting such a deal.

During the violence that has killed more than 170 people in the past month, the Arab world has closed ranks behind the Palestinians. Planeloads of food and medicine are being sent from all parts of the region. And funds for families of the victims have been established in virtually every Arab and Muslim country.

A Palestinian lawyer and commentator living in Egypt (Alexandria), Mahdi Ahmed Sidqi al-Dajani, says Palestinians believe the peace negotiations have not yielded anything for them. As a result, he says many believe the solution lies in resistance, like that against the Israeli military presence in south Lebanon.

/// AL-DAJANI ACT ///

The Arab people are united, are at harmony, are understanding that, in light of the Lebanese case, we (know) now what is the path toward regaining our rights and regaining our sacred places.

/// END ACT. ///

Many people in the region do not want war and are distressed by the violence. However, the voices of peace have been muted by anger over the clashes that are seen nightly on almost every television set here. (Signed)

NEB/SB/KL/TDW