Reuters à la Une 

Des violences éclatent dans les territoires palestiniens

Thu November 11, 2004 1:32 PM CET

GAZA (Reuters) - Des activistes palestiniens ont attaqué jeudi une colonie juive de la bande de Gaza en présentant cette action comme le signal de départ d'un nouveau cycle de violences contre Israël après la mort de Yasser Arafat.

Des soldats israéliens ont tué deux de ces activistes qui ont attaqué le bloc de colonies de Netzarim, dans le centre de la bande de Gaza, peu après l'annonce dans ce territoire de la mort du leader palestinien, ont annoncé des médecins.

Ces activistes ont ouvert le feu et fait exploser une bombe contre la colonie. Ils ont en outre tenté de tirer une roquette RPG contre cette implantation. Une porte-parole de l'armée israélienne a précisé que cinq des activistes avaient été touchés dans la fusillade qui a suivi l'attaque.

Abou Koussaï, porte-parole des Brigades des martyrs d'al Aksa, groupe armé lié au Fatah d'Arafat, a dit tenir Israël pour responsable de la mort du président palestinien.

"Notre mouvement et les frères des autres factions ont pris les armes pour faire payer le prix à l'ennemi. Nous assisterons partout dans les prochains jours à de violents affrontements avec les sionistes", a-t-il dit.

Les forces de sécurité israéliennes sont en état d'alerte renforcé car Israël redoute une recrudescence des violences au Proche-Orient.

Des dizaines de jeunes Palestiniens ont jeté des pierres sur un poste de contrôle près de Ramallah, ville de Cisjordanie où Arafat sera enterré vendredi.

D'autres affrontements avec jets de pierres ont été signalés dans plusieurs localités de Cisjordanie.

Yasser Arafat est décédé dans la nuit de mercredi à jeudi à l'hôpital militaire Percy, près de Paris.

Koussaï a attribué la responsabilité du décès d'Arafat aux autorités israéliennes qui, selon lui, l'ont obligé à vivre pendant deux ans et demi dans des conditions très précaires dans son QG de Ramallah, étroitement surveillé par l'armée israélienne.

Radio Canada.ca

Proche-Orient: la violence continue

Mise à jour le jeudi 11 novembre 2004 à 12 h 33

Des affrontements entre Israéliens et Palestiniens ont entouré l'annonce de la mort du président Yasser Arafat.

Placée en état d'alerte, l'armée israélienne a imposé un bouclage de la bande de Gaza et de la Cisjordanie. Elle a été confrontée à une population criant sa douleur et sa colère et à la première attaque d'activistes voulant venger la mort du vieux leader. Trois Palestiniens sont morts jeudi.

La guerre des pierres

À l'annonce de la mort de leur président, les Palestiniens sont allés exprimer leur douleur dans la rue. Dans plusieurs villes de Cisjordanie, la population a réagi à l'annonce du décès de Yasser Arafat en lançant des pierres sur des cibles israéliennes. Des dizaines de jeunes s'en sont par exemple pris à un poste de contrôle israélien près de Ramallah, ville de Cisjordanie où le président palestinien devrait être enterré vendredi.

Un Palestinien de 22 ans, Jamil Abou Maria, a été tué par des tirs israéliens au nord de Hébron, dans le sud de la Cisjordanie , lors de heurts entre lanceurs de pierres et militaires israéliens.

Une attaque revendiquée

À Gaza, des membres des Brigades des martyrs d'Al-Aqsa ont attaqué une colonie juive de la bande de Gaza. Ils ont ouvert le feu et fait exploser une bombe dans la colonie. Deux d'entre eux ont été tués par l'armée israélienne, qui affirme avoir blessé d'autres membres du commando.

Abou Koussaï, porte-parole du groupe armé relié au Fatah, a annoncé que cela n'était que le début de la vengeance des Brigades: « notre mouvement et les frères des autres factions ont pris les armes pour faire payer le prix à l'ennemi. Nous assisterons partout dans les prochains jours à de violents affrontements avec les sionistes ». Il attribue la responsabilité du décès du président palestinien aux autorités israéliennes, qui l'ont cantonné dans son quartier général à Ramallah pendant deux ans et demi, dans des conditions sanitaires très précaires.

Mise à jour: 11/11/2004 20h33

Décès de Yasser Arafat

Affrontements entre des Palestiniens et l'armée israélienne

Il y a eu des incidents entre des Palestiniens et l'armée israélienne à Ramallah et Bethléem. Plusieurs centaines de Palestiniens ont lancé des pierres sur des voitures israéliennes et brûlé des pneus.

Les soldats israéliens ont tiré des balles en plastique et des gaz lacrymogènes pour disperser 400 personnes dans un village près de Hébron.

Deux gardes-frontière de l'État hébreu et un Palestinien ont été légèrement blessés.

Des pierres ont également été lancées sur des voitures israéliennes sur une route entre Jérusalem et la Cisjordanie.

Des milliers de Palestiniens ont manifesté devant la Mouqata'a , le quartier général de Yasser Arafat, pour rendre hommage à leur leader.

Les manifestants, dont plusieurs sympatisants du Fatah, du Hamas et des Brigades des Martyrs d'al-Aqsa ont défilé en scandant le nom d'Arafat.

Plusieurs personnes se sont recueillies devant les murs de la Mouqata'a , où étaient affichées plusieurs photos de l'ancien chef palestinien.

Au même moment, sur l'esplanade de la Mouqata'a , on se prépare pour l'inhumation de Yasser Arafat.

Une dizaine d'ouvriers continuent à préparer la fosse ou sera porté en terre le chef palestinien.

Réactions du peuple arabe

Dans plusieurs pays arabes, le décès de Yasser Arafat a provoque des manifestations d'appuis au peuple palestinien.

Des marches ont eu lieu dans plusieurs endroits du Liban ou des milliers de réfugiés palestiniens vivent toujours dans des camps de réfugiés.

En Syrie, des centaines de personnes se sont rassemblées dans les rue de Damas avec des affiches de Yasser Arafat et des drapeaux palestiniens.

Et puis en Égypte, le président Hosni Moubarak a rendu hommage au leader palestinien. Il a parlé d'Arafat comme d'un défenseur de la justice.

WHO-TV ,  IA  - Nov 11, 2004

Three Palestinians killed in Gaza raid; troops break up West Bank riot

GAZA CITY , Gaza Strip Witnesses say an Israeli raid on a Gaza Strip town has left three Palestinians dead and at least nine others wounded.

The raid -- which included tanks and helicopter gunships -- came hours after the announcement of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death. Sporadic violence has continued in the coastal territory despite appeals by Palestinian leaders for a reduction in militant operations.

Israeli army sources say troops entered the neighborhood after spotting militants readying rockets and bombs for launch against a Jewish settlement. Hospital officials have identified two of the dead and six of the wounded as militants.

In the West Bank , the Israeli army says hundreds of Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli cars and burned tires to vent their sorrow over Arafat's death. Troops used rubber-coated bullets and tear gas to break up the riot, in which two officers were wounded and seven Israeli cars were damaged.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Posted on Fri, Nov. 12, 2004

Palestinian Youths Fight Israeli Police

PETER ENAV
Associated Press

JERUSALEM - Hundreds of Palestinian youths scuffled with Israeli police at a Jerusalem holy site Friday, after police barred them from prayers amid fear of riots and unrest during the funeral and burial of Yasser Arafat.

Police were on their highest state of alert and canceled all leaves, worried that the prayers for the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, together with mourning for Arafat, would get out of control.

"We have thousands of policemen on duty, basically the whole police force," said police spokesman Gil Kleiman. "We are on our highest level of mobilization."

In Jerusalem , security focused on the Old City where thousands of Muslims were expected to gather at the Al Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques for the prayers.

Police restricted access to male worshippers, barring West Bank residents and allowing only Jerusalem residents age 45 or older to enter.

Before the prayers, hundreds of youths tried to force their way onto the compound and were pushed back by an equal number of police and soldiers. As the worshippers moved toward the shrine, police shoved them back, holding up their clubs and throwing a few punches.

The angry worshippers, some of them crying, began a makeshift prayer service on the street.

In a nearby Arab neighborhood, police used stun grenades to disperse hundreds of stone- throwers. There were no reports of injuries.

In the Old City , hundreds of police and border guards in full riot gear took up positions, keeping crowds of young Muslims away from the holy site. At a ramp leading up to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, riot police were on standby, holding tall plastic riot shields.

Kleiman said heavy security already had been planned for the Friday worship, but was heightened even further when it was learned the prayers would coincide with Arafat's burial in his Ramallah compound following a service in Cairo .

The police also warned Israelis not to attend Arafat's funeral, saying they had information that Palestinians were planning to harm them.

The mosques sit on the disputed holy site known to Muslims as Haram a-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount , site of the biblical temples. It is one of the most sensitive areas in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a frequent flashpoint.

The military was also on a high state of alert. Reinforcements were dispatched to the Ramallah area, and Palestinian towns and cities were sealed off. All Palestinians were barred from entering Israel .

However, the army said Palestinians would be allowed to travel to the Ramallah burial site using public transport and designated roads.

Military officials said the army would postpone patrols inside Palestinian towns to avoid clashes Palestinians.

Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra said Israel was determined to ensure proceedings were orderly, but Israel was prepared for all circumstances.

"Today is a day that is important that it end quietly," Ezra told Israel TV. "In the Middle East anything can happen and we are prepared for anything."

Associated Press

November 12, 2004  

Arafat buried after emotional farewell

Lands in Ramallah

Mohammed Daraghmeh

CREDIT: Associated Press

The coffin bearing the body of Yasser Arafat, covered with the Palestinian flag, is carried over the heads of a vast crowd who gathered for the Palestinian leaders burial in Ramallah.

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Yasser Arafat was laid to rest in a marble-and-stone tomb Friday after his flag-draped coffin was borne through a sea of emotional Palestinians who swarmed the helicopter that brought him from a state funeral in Egypt .

Police fired wildly into the air to keep back the surging crowd at the West Bank compound known as the Muqata, where Arafat spent his last years as a virtual prisoner.

After Arafat's body was lowered into the ground, Muslim clerics read Qur'anic verses and the late leader's bodyguards wept and embraced one another.

Frantic mourners surged toward the tomb, trampling the olive tree saplings that were planted around the site according to Islamic tradition. One policeman knelt on the marble and kissed the stone.

A black-and-white checkered keffiyeh was planted on a stick in the soil, arranged in the way Arafat habitually wore his traditional headdress. The Palestinians consider the gravesite temporary -- a place for Arafat's body until they can honour his request to be buried in Jerusalem .

Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi said the pandemonium was a sign of love.

"President Arafat would have wanted it this way, with exhilaration, feelings of loyalty, pain, sadness and love all at once," she said. "The people reclaimed him. They wanted to say goodbye without distance."

An Egyptian helicopter carrying Arafat's coffin landed at the Muqata at mid-afternoon and was immediately rushed by tens of thousands of mourners.

Hundreds of Palestinian security guards tried for 25 minutes to open the helicopter door to remove the coffin onto a jeep that had plowed through the crowd to clear a path.

Mahmoud Abbas, the new head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Omar Suleiman , Egypt 's director of intelligence, tried to get out of the helicopter, but were kept back at first by the chaotic crowd.

Stretchers carried away two people who were trampled in the melee.

Under the crush of screaming mourners, plans were hastily scrapped for a stately ceremony with Palestinian officials filing past his coffin.

Some mourners were disappointed they could not properly pay their respects.

"I wanted to say goodbye and I didn't get a chance. I didn't get a glimpse of his coffin," said Hadeje Abu Sharif, 52, a diabetic who fainted during the frenzy. "We have no organization. If we had it, we would have a state."

Hours earlier, mourners had burst through the gates of the Muqata and climbed over the walls of the compound, thwarting attempts by armed police to hold them back. Police scrambled to keep them off the landing pad.

As Arafat's helicopter touched down, the crowd cried out, "Welcome, welcome Abu Ammar!" using his nom de guerre. "Welcome, welcome old man!"

Buildings and windshields in the West Bank and Gaza were plastered with Arafat's photo and people waved black and white scarves, the colours of his Fatah movement. In Gaza City , hundreds gathered on rooftops, streets and apartment balconies in hopes of catching a glimpse of Arafat's helicopter. Barred from attending the burial, many Gaza residents held symbolic funerals.

Arafat, 75, who led the Palestinians for four decades, died Thursday at a Paris hospital from an undisclosed illness that had plunged him into a week-long coma. He had spent his final three years confined to his headquarters, never leaving for fear the Israelis wouldn't allow him back in.

On Friday, teenage boys climbed onto the walls of the compound chanting, "Whoever poisoned Arafat, we will drink his blood." Others cried out, "Allahu akbar" -- Arabic for "God is great" -- and "We want to see Abu Ammar."

Top Arafat aide Tayeb Abdel Rahim asked the crowd to stop chanting.

"The whole world is watching us now on television and we have to reflect our real picture," he said.

Israeli police, ordered to stay on the sidelines of the burial, were on their highest state of alert and cancelled all leaves, worried that the prayers for the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, together with mourning for Arafat, would get out of control. In Jerusalem , hundreds of Palestinian youths who were barred from prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque -- Islam's third-holiest shrine -- scuffled with police.

Egypt gave Arafat a state funeral in Cairo , even though he never realized his dream of Palestinian statehood.

The service began amid heavy security with humble prayers at a mosque in a military compound and ended with a procession, his flag-draped wooden casket set on a horse-drawn gun carriage and followed by presidents and kings.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah as well as Abbas and Farouk Kaddoumi, the newly chosen leader of the Fatah organization, were among the dignitaries who marched behind the casket on a residential street a short distance toward a military airfield. Doors and shutters of homes along the route were closed, and the street was sealed off.

Arafat's veiled widow, Suha, and their rarely seen nine-year-old daughter, Zahwa, wept as the Palestinian and Egyptian national anthems were played by a band before the casket was loaded aboard an Egyptian military plane. The jet flew to el-Arish, in Egypt 's Sinai Peninsula , where the casket was transferred to the helicopter.

In Washington , President George W. Bush met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and said there was a "great chance to establish a Palestinian state."

He put much of the onus on the new Palestinian leadership, adding that the United States is "looking forward to working with Palestinian leaders who are committed to fighting terrorism and committed to democratic reform."

© Associated Press 2004