Just another reminder why Israel is one of our dearest friends and the Palestinians are not...

Palestinians Mark 'Black Day' of Saddam Capture  
Sun Dec 14,11:19 AM ET  Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Disbelief and gloom seized many Palestinians Sunday at news of Saddam Hussein's capture as Israel fired off a telegram of congratulations to Washington.

The former Iraqi ruler was a hero to many Palestinians for his stand against Israel and its U.S. ally, as well as for helping families of Palestinians dead in an uprising.

For Israel, he was a menace over the horizon who long bankrolled the enemy.

"It's a black day in history," said Sadiq Husam, 33, a taxi driver in Ramallah, West Bank seat of the Palestinian Authority.

"I am saying so not because Saddam is an Arab, but because he is the only man who said no to American injustice in the Middle East," he said.

There was no immediate reaction from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat or his government.

But Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz hailed Saddam's capture in a telegram to Washington as proof of patience and determination in a war "against the rulers of darkness."

Saddam paid over $35 million to the kin of Palestinian suicide bombers, militants and bystanders who died in an uprising that began in 2000.

Though far from all Palestinians supported him, militants marched to back Saddam ahead of the U.S.-led invasion in March.

Arafat himself had opposed the 1991 Gulf War that ousted Saddam's forces from Kuwait. Palestinians cheered when Iraqi Scud missiles crashed into Israeli cities.

Some did not believe news of Saddam's capture even when images of the bearded figure flashed across television screens.

"Maybe they captured someone who looks like him," said Laila Abusharigh, 55, in the Gaza Strip. "Saddam is a real man and all of us are with him."

Fifteen youngsters from Arafat's Fatah movement tagged onto a rally in Gaza for the Islamic group Hamas, holding up posters of Saddam.

Islamic factions sworn to Israel's destruction have taken strength from Iraqi resistance and cautioned Sunday that Saddam's capture would not end attacks on U.S. forces.

"The war will start now in Iraq," said 16-year-old Yusef Khalil in Gaza. "Saddam helped our people and we will not forget him."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=574&u=/nm/20031214/wl_nm/iraq_mideast_dc_1&printer=1

Isn't that cute? The 16 year old says that the war will NOW start in Iraq!

Eric The(ZionistEvenMoreNowadays)Hun

[img]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20031214/capt.sge.olm06.141203235116.photo01.default-380x259.jpg[/img]

Caption: A Palestinian man shouts anti-US slogans in front of a picture of Saddam Hussein during a demonstration against the capture of the ousted Iraqi president in Khan Yunes, south of Gaza City.(AFP/Mohammed Abed)

[img]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031214/capt.jrl11412141934.mideast_paestinians_saddam_reax_jrl114.jpg[/img]

Caption: A Palestinian member of the youth organization Palestinian Mini Parliament, affiliated to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, holds a picture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during a demonstration in support of Hussein on the day of his capture by U.S forces in Iraq at the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip Sunday Dec. 14, 2003. The Palestinian Authority declined official comment after the capture. While Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had supported Saddam in the 1991 Gulf War, his government had been careful to stay on the sidelines during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq this year. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra).

[img]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031214/capt.jrl11412141855.mideast_paestinians_saddam_jrl114.jpg[/img]

[img]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031214/capt.jrl11712141850.mideast_israel_palestinians_jrl117.jpg[/img]

[img]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031214/capt.jrl11112141829.mideast_palestinians_saddam_reax_jrl111.jpg[/img]

Caption: A Palestinian vendor sits behind a counter with a picture of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, right, and Saddam Hussein, in the West Bank town of Jenin Sunday Dec. 14, 2003. Without firing a shot, American forces captured a bearded and haggard-looking Saddam Hussein in an underground hide-out on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit, ending one of the most intensive manhunts in history. The arrest was a huge victory for U.S. forces battling an insurgency by the ousted dictator's followers. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

[img]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031214/capt.jrl11612141757.mideast_israel_palestinians_jrl116.jpg[/img]

[img]http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20031212/s/r408003006.jpg[/img]

Armed terrorists attempting to ambush a US Convoy in the Sunni Triangle in Iraq?

Nope. Armed terrorists attemting to ambush Israeli settlers on the West Bank.

But I can understand your confusion. They are one and the same!

Eric The(ZionistToTheEnd)Hun[>]:)]

Wait. Here's more. From the Jerusalem Post:

[size=4]Palestinians lament capture[/size=4]
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

[img]http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?ssbinary=true&cachecontrol=*%3A0%2C30%3A10+*%2F*%2F*&blobtable=JPImage&blobcol=urlimage&blobwhere=1071395085129&blobkey=id&blobheader=image/jpeg[/img]

Caption: A Palestinian boy holding a picture of Saddam Hussein in a Sunday rally in Gaza
Photo: AP

Palestinians in the West Bank reacted to the capture of Saddam Hussein with shock and disbelief, with many expressing deep disappointment that the man who symbolized defiance against the US and Israel surrendered without resistance.

The Palestinian Authority declined to comment, but a senior official in Ramallah said PA Chairman Yasser Arafat was "saddened" by the news from Baghdad.

[b]"President Arafat was sad to see an Arab leader in an humiliating position," he said.[/b] For nearly two decades, Saddam was hailed by many Palestinians as the hero of the Arab masses and the only Arab leader to stand up to the US and Israel.

During the first Gulf War, Palestinians danced on the rooftops as Saddam's army fired Scud missiles at Israel. Arafat was one of the few Arab leaders to visit Baghdad to express support for the invasion of Kuwait – move that resulted in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Kuwait and other Gulf countries.

Arafat's decision to side with Saddam also resulted in the near bankruptcy of the PLO after the oil-rich Gulf governments halted their financial support. Saddam is said to have compensated the PLO by giving Arafat $50 million.

In the past three years, Saddam was the only Arab leader to pay millions of dollars to the families of Palestinian victims of the violence. Families of suicide bombers received up to $10,000, while those whose houses were destroyed by the IDF were given $20,000.

The payments further boosted Saddam's popularity among the Palestinians, particularly at a time when Arafat was handing out smaller sums to his people. [b]Earlier this year, Palestinians demonstrated in favor of Saddam when the US threatened to invade Iraq and topple his regime. At the rallies they chanted, "O beloved Saddam, bomb Tel Aviv."[/b]

But this time Arafat and the PA leadership were careful not to be seen speaking in favor of the Iraqi tyrant. Privately, however, senior PA officials said they supported Saddam in the face of the American "aggression." The fall of Baghdad on April 9 was regarded by many Palestinians as a new "nakba" (catastrophe – a term used by Palestinians to describe the creation of Israel in 1948).

When reports about Saddam's atrocities began to emerge, some Palestinians changed their minds about him, explaining that they had been unaware of the scale of crimes perpetrated by his Ba'athist regime. [b]But this did not prevent the Palestinian media from supporting the "resistance" attacks against the US soldiers and drawing a parallel between these attacks and the Palestinian fight against Israel.[/b]

On the streets of Ramallah on Sunday, many Palestinians expressed sorrow and shock at the capture of Saddam. Jihan Ajlouni, 24, a university student, said, "This is a big loss for the Arab nation. Saddam was one of the great Arab leaders who supported the Palestinian people and many Arabs. We feel very sad today, and we say to all the traitors and collaborators: [b]Don't rush to celebrate because there are millions of Saddams in the Arab world."[/b]

Fathi Salman, 50, a taxi driver, called it a "black day for all the Palestinians and all the Arabs and Muslims."

"I still can't believe that President Saddam has been captured by the Americans," said Salman. "Saddam was the only Arab leader who cared about us. He supported the Palestinian cause from the beginning. His arrest is a major setback for the Palestinians. It's a pity that he didn't fight."

Khairiyeh Said, 43, a high-school teacher, said she wept when she watched Saddam in captivity. "I was sitting with my friends when we heard the bad news," she said. "We all started crying because we love Saddam and we hate [US President George W.] Bush and [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon. This is a big victory for Bush and Sharon and all the enemies of the Palestinian people. [b]We hope the Iraqi resistance will now teach the American dogs a good lesson."[/b]

Michael Hanna, 28, an engineer, was one of the few who said they were happy that Saddam was captured. "Saddam is responsible for the killing of thousands of his own people and he deserves to die," he said. "I have no sympathy for him or other Arab dictators. I hope he will be put on trial and executed. This should be a lesson for other corrupt and tyrannical Arab leaders. I hope the Iraqi people will now be able to live in peace, because they have suffered for a long time under Saddam and his sons."

Legislator Hatem Abdel Kader said he, too, hoped that Saddam's capture would serve as a lesson for the rest of the Arab dictators. "I think the Iraqis can finally celebrate their birthday," he said. "This is the fate of all tyrants. This is a humiliating end for a dictator, but we wish he had been caught by the Iraqis and not the Americans."

Abdel Kader, one of the top Fatah leaders, said many Palestinians were disappointed that Saddam did not try to fight back. "It would have been better if he had been killed," he said. "At least he would have died in an honorable way. It's a happy and sad ending for a dictator, and I hope that this would be a lesson for all the other Arab dictators. This shows that all tyrants are cowards."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1071395084584

Eric The(TellingItLikeItIs)Hun[>]:)]

So much for all our peace initiatives, and bending over backwards to keep the Israelis from doing what we would do if these fools lived next door to us!

Next time the IDF launches a military sweep of the West Bank and Gaza, I think that President Bush ought to just go fishing and be unavailable for any Palestinian pleas to rein in the Israelis!

Eric The(ZionestThen,ZionistNow,ZionistForever)Hun[>]:)]

I don't take it seriously! [:D]

No one would bring up that dreadful subject this close to [b]Christmas[/b] and think that the Hun would get involved in it!

I would merely post links to my own voluminous posts on that horribly tragic event!

And resurrect the thread after New Years Day!

Eric The(Forewarned)Hun[>]:)]