A summit, aimed at ending the ongoing violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians, began today in the Sinai Peninsula town of Sharam el-Sheikh, Egypt. The talks include not only Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and US President Bill Clinton, but also Egyptian President Mubarak, King Abdullah II of Jordan, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the European Union diplomatic chief Javier Solana. President Clinton stated that the summit has three objectives: An immediate end to the violence, to achieve agreement on an objective and fair fact-finding process into the violence that has occurred, and finally to get the peace process moving. The meeting has a limit of 24 hours due to Clinton’s need to be at a funeral service in the United States, being given for the sailors killed in the attack on a U.S. Naval vessel off the coast of Yemen.  

Bryan Atinsky

Violence Continues to Escalate in the West Bank

Violent confrontation ripped through the West Bank again today. Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian police man. Gun fire exchanges have become the norm. This comes after weeks of a continued escalation of violence in the West Bank. Earlier, Israeli helicopters bombed Palestinian towns in retaliation for the increased violence being used on both sides. The situation has worsened over the past three weeks with no end in sight. While the politicians are issuing rhetoric and demands, people are dying on the streets every day. More than 94 people have died as a result of a non-functional political process.

Saturday 14 October, 500 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv, against the war and continued bloodshed. At least one Israeli soldier has been imprisoned for refusing to be involved in these actions.