Mencari Kebenaran . . .: Yemeni Forces fire On Protesters, killing 4

REMEMBER: God Almighty says in the Holy Quran: Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by (reason of) what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of (the consequence of) what they have done that perhaps they will return (to righteousness). (Firman Allah Taala: Telah timbul berbagai kerosakan dan bala bencana di darat dan di laut dengan sebab apa yang telah dilakukan oleh tangan manusia; (timbulnya yang demikian) kerana Allah hendak merasakan mereka sebahagian dari balasan perbuatan-perbuatan buruk yang mereka telah lakukan, supaya mereka kembali (insaf dan bertaubat). (Q.Surah 30 'Ar-Rum: verse 41)

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Yemeni forces fire on protesters, killing 4

Oktober 16, 2011 - Sanaa, Yaman (AP) - Yaman pasukan keselamatan telah melepaskan tembakan Ahad ke atas penunjuk perasaan anti-kerajaan berarak melalui modal yang membunuh sekurang-kurangnya empat orang, kata seorang pegawai perubatan.

Mohammed al-Qubati, pengarah hospital medan di tapak bantahan utama Sanaa digelar "Perubahan Square", juga berkata sekurang-kurangnya 37 orang cedera dalam keganasan. Saksi-saksi berkata penembak tepat di atas bumbung melepaskan tembakan ke atas orang ramai yang beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan, berarak melalui jalan-jalan untuk memanggil bagi peletakan jawatan Presiden Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Angkatan setia Pengawal Republikan, satu unit yang diketuai oleh anak Ahmed Saleh, juga lobbed gas pemedih mata di penunjuk perasaan. Saksi-saksi berkata bahawa Pengawal Republikan bertempur berhampiran Dataran Perubahan dengan tentera anti-kerajaan belot tentera amnya Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, yang berpaling tadah dan menyertai protes months ago.

Pro-Saleh pasukan keselamatan juga cuba Ahad untuk menyuraikan protes besar di bandar selatan Yemen Taiz, membunuh seorang wanita dan mencederakan 7 yang lain, pegawai-pegawai perubatan situ telah menyatakan.

Keganasan Ahad ini datang sehari selepas pasukan keselamatan melepaskan tembakan pada perhimpunan besar-besaran kira-kira 300,000 orang di Sanaa, membunuh sekurang-kurangnya 12 penunjuk perasaan dan mencederakan kira-kira 300.

"Tiada imuniti, tiada jaminan. Saleh dan pembantu beliau mesti didakwa," melaungkan penunjuk perasaan di Sanaa. "Orang Percuma dunia, Saleh mesti cuba." Presiden Saleh berpaut kepada kuasa dalam menghadapi demonstrasi jalanan besar-besaran, yang diilhamkan oleh kebangkitan popular di Tunisia dan Mesir lebih daripada sembilan bulan.

Saleh, yang telah memegang jawatan selama 33 tahun, kukuh enggan untuk berhenti kuasa. Beliau telah balked menandatangani perjanjian bahawa Amerika Syarikat dan Arab Saudi telah disokong dengan harapan dapat menyediakan peralihan kuasa yang lancar. Di bawah perjanjian itu, Saleh akan meletak jawatan dan kuasa tangan naib presiden beliau sebagai balasan bagi kekebalan daripada pendakwaan.

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Liga Arab membincangkan untuk menggantung Syria

Oktober 16, 2011 - BEIRUT (AP) - Liga Arab telah dipanggil kecemasan mesyuarat Ahad untuk membincangkan sama ada untuk menggantung Syria, kata pegawai, ramping tekanan ke atas Damsyik untuk menamatkan tindakan keras berdarah ke atas penunjuk perasaan anti-kerajaan.

Penggantungan tidak langsung, kesan ketara ke atas Syria, tetapi ia masih merupakan satu tamparan besar kepada rejim embattled Presiden Bashar Assad, dengan pelucutan Damsyik sokongan Arab dan seterusnya mendalamkan pengasingan.

Walaupun korus antarabangsa untuk menamatkan krisis yang semakin meningkat, Assad telah menunjukkan sebarang tanda sokongan atau melonggarkan kempen mereka untuk menghancurkan kebangkitan yang berusia 7 bulan.

Pada hari Ahad, pasukan keselamatan dibuka kebakaran di upacara pengebumian bagi aktivis satu dibunuh di timur, manakala kuasa-kuasa di tempat lain ditangkap sekurang-kurangnya 44 orang di pinggir bandar di ibu negara di rumah-ke-rumah serbuan Ahad dan lebih daripada 900 orang di bandar yang pusat-Homs lebih minggu lalu.

Pegawai Liga Arab berkata mesyuarat hari Ahad di Kaherah dipanggil atas perintah beberapa negara-negara Teluk dan bertujuan untuk memberi tekanan kepada Assad untuk menghentikan tindakan keras, yang PBB mengatakan telah membunuh lebih daripada 3,000 orang sejak kebangkitan bermula pada pertengahan bulan Mac.

Banyak negara-negara Teluk, termasuk kelas berat Arab Saudi, telah ditarik balik duta mereka dari Syria untuk membantah tindak balas berdarah rejim kepada bantahan. Lain-lain negara-negara Arab, bagaimanapun, telah kekal senyap atau enggan dalam kritikan mereka terhadap tindakan keras Syria.

Penggantungan ahli Liga Arab adalah sangat jarang berlaku. Liga 22 ahli digantung keahlian Libya pada awal tahun ini selepas Moammar Gadhafi melancarkan tindakan keras yang ganas ke atas penunjuk perasaan di sana. Yang memberikan masyarakat antarabangsa tangan percuma untuk campur tangan dengan kuasa udara untuk sasaran angkatan Gadhafi.

Liga sejak semula Libya di bawah kepimpinan baru negara. Campur tangan antarabangsa tetapi daripada soalan di Syria. Washington dan sekutu-sekutunya telah menunjukkan selera makan sedikit untuk melangkah masuk ke dalam negara lain Arab dalam kegawatan. Terdapat juga kebimbangan yang nyata bahawa penyingkiran Assad, akan menyebarkan huru-hara di seluruh rantau ini.

Syria adalah keystone geografi dan politik di tengah-tengah Timur Tengah, yang bersempadan dengan lima negara-negara yang saham minoriti agama dan etnik. Webnya daripada kesetiaan meliputi pergerakan Hezbollah berkuasa Lubnan dan teokrasi Syiah Iran, dan terdapat kebimbangan yang nyata dikongsi oleh banyak negara Arab bahawa penyingkiran Assad, akan menyebarkan huru-hara di seluruh rantau ini.

Lebih daripada 120 Arab kumpulan hak asasi manusia dan pertubuhan-pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) menggesa ketua Liga Arab untuk mengambil tindakan terhadap rejim Syria dalam petisyen bertajuk:

"Senyap bukan pilihan" "Kami tidak mempunyai masa untuk kehilangan Liga Arab boleh tanjakan tekanan diplomatik dan ekonomi untuk membantu menamatkan tindakan keras dan menghalang Syria daripada turun ke dalam perang saudara kini," kata kumpulan dalam petisyen mereka.

Ahli sains politik Saudi Khalid al-Ad Dakhil berkata penggantungan akan menghantar mesej yang kuat. "Senyap Liga Arab adalah seperti lampu hijau kepada rejim untuk meneruskan pembunuhan. Ia memberikan perlindungan bagi rejim Syria," katanya.

Seorang pegawai berkata, Liga Arab akan menimbangkan langkah-langkah lain jika penggantungan tidak memaksa Syria untuk menghentikan pertumpahan darah. Beliau enggan mengulas lanjut. Pegawai-pegawai yang bercakap mengenai dikenali kerana mereka tidak diberi kuasa untuk taklimat media.

Seorang diplomat Arab berkata, ahli-ahli Liga dibahagikan atas apakah langkah-langkah untuk mengambil. Satu blok enam negara-negara Teluk termasuk Arab Saudi sedang berusaha untuk penggantungan dan pengiktirafan badan pembangkang yang baru ditubuhkan yang dinamakan Majlis negara Syria, katanya.

Berbanding dengan langkah-langkah, diplomat berkata, Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon jiran Syria dan Yaman, yang pemimpin juga menghadapi pemberontakan yang serius.

Dalam mesyuarat perundingan sebelum perhimpunan rasmi di Kaherah, menteri-menteri luar Arab semua menolak campur tangan asing tetapi bersetuju untuk tekan rejim Syria untuk membentangkan peta jalan untuk pembaharuan dan pilihan raya presiden, diplomat berkata.

Beliau bercakap mengenai dikenali kerana dia tidak diberi kuasa untuk bercakap kepada pihak media. Sementara itu, sekitar 7,000 orang mengambil Ahad jalan-jalan di bandar timur Syria Deir el-Zour bagi pengebumian seorang aktivis, Ziad al-Obeidi, yang terbunuh sehari lebih awal.

Al-Obeidi bekerja untuk Balai Cerap yang berpangkalan di Britain untuk Hak Asasi Manusia di Syria dan telah bersembunyi sejak tentera menyerbu bandar dua bulan lalu.

Balai Cerap Pengarah Rami Abdul Rahman berkata, pasukan keselamatan telah melepaskan peluru hidup untuk menyuraikan orang yang berkabung Ahad, tetapi tidak ada perkataan serta-merta ke atas mangsa.

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Di Israel, Perdebatan yang dikenakan ke atas Pembebasan Banduan

Oktober 16, 2011 - BAITULMAQDIS (AP) - Saudara-mara Israel terbunuh dalam serangan Palestin mencetuskan perdebatan yang dikenakan Ahad ke atas keluaran yang dirancang militan minggu ini dalam perjanjian untuk membebaskan askar Israel yang diadakan oleh Hamas selama 5 tahun.

Beberapa keluarga telah memfailkan rayuan mahkamah terhadap perjanjian itu, walaupun ia tidak dijangka untuk menghentikan swap di mana militan Hamas percuma akan Sgt. Gilad Schalit sebagai pertukaran bagi 1027 rakyat Palestin di penjara Israel.

Pada hari Ahad, bas penjara Israel mula memindahkan banduan dari satu pemasangan keseksaan di selatan Israel yang lain sebagai persediaan untuk melepaskan mereka.

Antara banduan yang akan dikeluarkan pada hari Selasa militan yang terlibat dalam pengeboman maut dan serangan lain yang mensasarkan orang awam dan askar Israel. Perdebatan dalaman Israel, yang digabungkan dengan sambutan wira menunggu tahanan Palestin apabila kembali ke Tebing Barat dan Gaza Strip, menggambarkan kisah mendadak mencapah sekitar swap.

Israel melihat banduan sebagai pengganas yang berdarah sejuk, manakala dalam masyarakat Palestin, banduan secara meluas dilihat sebagai pejuang.

Perdebatan di Israel dalam negeri sebahagian besarnya tertumpu kepada sama ada Israel membayar harga yang terlalu berat-. Di Israel, Ron Kehrmann berkata beliau menentang swap, yang akan membebaskan 3 militan yang terlibat dalam pengeboman 2003 bunuh diri yang membunuh anak perempuan yang berusia 17 tahun, Tal, dan 16 yang lain di atas kapal bas di bandar Haifa. Kehrmann berkata pelepasan itu boleh mengakibatkan kematian lebih Israel.

"Apakah darah tentera seterusnya ditangkap atau warganegara yang kurang merah daripada darah Gilad Schalit?" tanya beliau. Tetapi lain-lain saudara mara berkabung percaya harga bernilai membayar untuk membebaskan askar ditawan. Nasib Schalit, kali terakhir dilihat dalam video 2009 yang dikeluarkan oleh menangkap beliau, telah sibuk negara sejak dia ditangkap pada bulan Jun 2006.

"Untuk mengetahui anak anda masih hidup dan tidak boleh memegang beliau, ini adalah perkara yang paling teruk mungkin," kata Yosefa Goldstein, yang anak perempuan Sari, 21, meninggal dunia dalam pengeboman 2002 bas.

Ramai yang berpendapat bahawa militan yang membunuh Israel boleh kembali kepada aktiviti bersenjata dan membebaskan begitu banyak banduan, termasuk mereka yang terbabit dalam beberapa serangan dahsyat dalam ingatan baru-baru ini, menjadi penyokong kumpulan seperti Hamas di mengorbankan rakyat Palestin yang lebih sederhana. Pertimbangan ini, kedudukan ini berhujah, melebihi kehidupan seorang askar.

Tetapi kerajaan Israel memutuskan, dengan sokongan perkhidmatan keselamatan dan apa yang akan muncul untuk menjadi majoriti Israel, bahawa tidak ada tawaran yang lebih baik boleh dicapai dan pulangan yang Schalit mewajarkan harga.

Di kalangan rakyat Palestin, terdapat perselisihan pendapat yang berterusan ke atas sama ada penggunaan keganasan telah produktif dalam usaha untuk kenegaraan. Walau bagaimanapun, walaupun mereka yang menentang keganasan atas alasan taktikal berhujah bahawa banduan yang dikorbankan untuk tujuan yang sama dan rakyat Palestin mempunyai hak untuk menentang pendudukan ketenteraan Israel 44 tahun.

Di Gaza dan Tebing Barat, Palestin sedang bersiap-sedia mengalu-alukan seorang wira untuk banduan kembali. Di Tebing Barat, Presiden Palestin, Mahmoud Abbas - sebahagian besarnya diketepikan semasa rundingan pertukaran antara kerajaan dan Israel Hamas, saingan politiknya - adalah untuk memegang penerimaan bagi banduan dibebaskan hari ini, kata seorang pembantu, Saeb Erekat.

Tambang Kadura, anggota pergerakan Fatah Abbas 'dan aktivis bagi pihak banduan, berkata ia tidak mungkin kisah bersaing pernah boleh diselaraskan. "Seorang pegawai tentera Israel, dari sudut pandangan kami, beliau adalah seorang pengganas jika dia memberi arahan untuk membunuh orang atau mengebom tempat-tempat tertentu.

Bagi mereka (Israel), beliau adalah seorang wira," sama seperti rakyat Palestin menghormati pejuang mereka sendiri, kata Tambang. "Ia adalah satu perbahasan yang tidak pernah akan berakhir."

Beliau berkata pengebom atau lelaki bersenjata tidak perlu diadakan secara peribadi bertanggungjawab untuk tindakan tertentu kerana mereka disapu dalam suasana yang wujud pada masa itu. Pemilihan baru-baru ini menunjukkan bahawa sokongan terhadap serangan ke atas Israel telah menurun sejak ruam pengeboman dan tembakan maut sedekad yang lalu, pada kemuncak kebangkitan Palestin kedua.

Di Israel, pembebasan banduan yang dirancang telah membawa seorang lelaki untuk menjalankan perbuatan sendiri dramatik bantahan. Shvuel Schijveschuurder, 27, kehilangan ibu bapa dan 3 adik-beradik pada tahun 2001 apabila seorang pengebom bunuh diri meletupkan sebuah restoran pizza sesak di Yerusalem, membunuh 15 orang. Seorang wanita Palestin yang diangkut pengebom ke restoran merupakan antara orang-orang yang dijadual untuk siaran.

Pada hari Jumaat, Tel Aviv polis menahan beliau untuk merosakkan memorial yang dibunuh Israel Perdana Menteri Yitzhak Rabin dalam apa yang seolah-olah menjadi satu percubaan untuk menarik perhatian kepada pembangkang untuk menukar keluarga. Pembunuh Rabin merupakan pelampau Israel yang membantah perjanjian perdagangan Tebing Barat dan Semenanjung Gaza kepada rakyat Palestin untuk keamanan.

Minggu lepas, selepas keputusan diumumkan, kakak berusia 20 tahun Schijveschuurder, Lea, berdiri di luar khemah bantahan Baitulmuqaddis, di mana 300 penyokong perjanjian itu sedang dalam perjalanan untuk menyambut. Beliau mengadakan tanda yang berbunyi, "darah ibu bapa saya 'teriakan dari kubur."

Seorang pemimpin Hamas di Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, memberitahu harian Israel Yediot Ahronot dalam satu temu bual yang disiarkan Ahad bahawa perjanjian swap untuk Schalit akan menggalakkan kumpulan Islam untuk menguasai lebih banyak askar. "Pelajaran yang telah kami pelajari oleh askar penculikan membawa kita untuk terus penculikan," kata pemimpin Hamas. "Kami masih mempunyai 7000 banduan di penjara (Israel), dan mereka juga perlu dilepaskan."

Di wilayah-wilayah Palestin, keluarga sedang menunggu cemas, terutamanya untuk kembali beberapa tahanan yang paling lama berkhidmat. Dalam kampung Bank Barat Kobar, Hanan Barghouti yang berusia 47 tahun berkata dia mengira jam sehingga melepaskan saudaranya yang berusia 57 tahun Nael, yang telah di penjara sejak tahun 1978 untuk membunuh seorang lelaki Israel.

"Kami sedang menunggu untuk dia keluar, berkahwin dan mempunyai keluarga seperti orang lain," katanya.

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Yemeni forces fire on protesters, killing 4

October 16, 2011 - SANAA, Yemen (AP) - Yemeni security forces opened fire Sunday on anti-government protesters marching through the capital killing at least four people, a medical official said.

Mohammed al-Qubati, the director of a field hospital at Sanaa's main protest site dubbed "Change Square", also said at least 37 people were wounded in the violence. Witnesses said snipers on rooftops opened fire on the crowd of tens of thousands of protesters, marching through the streets to call for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Loyalist forces of the Republican Guard, a unit led by Saleh's son Ahmed, also lobbed tear gas at the demonstrators. Witnesses said that the Republican Guard clashed near Change Square with the anti-government troops of renegade army general Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who defected and joined protests months ago.

Pro-Saleh security forces also tried Sunday to disperse a large protest in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz, killing one woman and injuring seven others, medical officials there said. Sunday's violence comes a day after security forces fired on a massive rally of some 300,000 people in Sanaa, killing at least 12 protesters and wounding some 300.

"No immunity, no guarantees. Saleh and his aides must be prosecuted," chanted protesters in Sanaa. "Free people of the world, Saleh must be tried." President Saleh clings to power in the face of more than nine months of massive street protests, inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Saleh, who has been in office for 33 years, has staunchly refused to quit power. He has balked at signing a deal that the United States and Saudi Arabia have backed in hopes of providing a smooth transition of power. Under the agreement, Saleh would resign and hand power to his vice president in return for immunity from prosecution.

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Arab League to discuss suspending Syria

October 16, 2011 - BEIRUT (AP) - The Arab League has called an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss whether to suspend Syria, officials said, ramping up the pressure on Damascus to end its bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Suspension is unlikely to have a direct, tangible impact on Syria, but it would still constitute a major blow to President Bashar Assad's embattled regime by stripping Damascus of its Arab support and further deepening its isolation.

Despite the growing international chorus for an end to the crisis, Assad has shown no sign of backing down or easing his campaign to crush the 7-month-old uprising. On Sunday, security forces opened fire on a funeral for a slain activist in the east, while forces elsewhere arrested at least 44 people in the capital's suburbs in house-to-house raids Sunday and more than 900 people in the central city of Homs over the past week.

Arab League officials said the meeting Sunday in Cairo was called at the behest of several Gulf countries and aimed to pressure Assad to halt the crackdown, which the U.N. says has killed more than 3,000 people since the uprising began in mid-March.

Many Gulf states, including heavyweight Saudi Arabia, already have withdrawn their ambassadors from Syria to protest the regime's bloody response to the protests. Other Arab countries, however, have remained silent or reluctant in their criticism of the Syrian crackdown.

The suspension of an Arab League member is very rare. The 22-member League suspended Libya's membership earlier this year after Moammar Gadhafi launched a violent crackdown on protesters there. That gave the international community a free hand to intervene with air power to target Gadhafi's forces.

The League has since reinstated Libya under the country's new leadership. International intervention is all but out of the question in Syria. Washington and its allies have shown little appetite for stepping into another Arab nation in turmoil. There also is real concern that Assad's ouster would spread chaos around the region.

Syria is a geographical and political keystone in the heart of the Middle East, bordering five countries with which it shares religious and ethnic minorities. Its web of allegiances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy, and there is real concern shared by many Arab countries that Assad's ouster would spread chaos around the region.

More than 120 Arab human rights groups and non-governmental organizations urged the Arab League chief to take action against the Syrian regime in a petition titled: "Silence is not an option." "We have no time to lose. The Arab League can ramp up the diplomatic and economic pressure to help end the crackdown and prevent Syria from descending into civil war now," the groups said in their petition.

Saudi political scientist Khalid al-Dakhil said a suspension would send a powerful message. "The Arab League silence was like a green light to the regime to continue killings. It gave a cover for the Syrian regime," he said.

One official said the Arab League will consider other measures if suspension fails to compel Syria to stop the bloodshed. He declined to elaborate. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

An Arab diplomat said League members were divided over what steps to take. A bloc of six Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia was pushing for suspension and a recognition of a newly formed opposition body called the Syrian national Council, he said.

Against the measures, the diplomat said, were Sudan, Algeria, Syria's neighbor Lebanon and Yemen, whose leader is also facing a serious uprising. During a consultative meeting before the official gathering in Cairo, Arab foreign ministers all rejected foreign intervention but agreed to press the Syrian regime to present a road map for reforms and presidential elections, the diplomat said.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. Meanwhile, around 7,000 people took to the streets Sunday in the eastern Syrian city of Deir el-Zour for the funeral of an activist, Ziad al-Obeidi, who was killed a day earlier. Al-Obeidi worked for the British-based Observatory for Human Rights in Syria and had been in hiding since troops stormed the city two months ago.

Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said security forces fired live ammunition to disperse the mourners Sunday, but there was no immediate word on casualties.

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In Israel, a charged debate over prisoner release

October 16, 2011 - JERUSALEM (AP) - Relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks waged a charged debate Sunday over the planned release of militants this week in a deal to free an Israeli soldier held by Hamas for five years.

Several families have filed court appeals against the deal, though it is not expected to halt the swap in which Hamas militants will free Sgt. Gilad Schalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. On Sunday, Israeli prison buses began moving some of the prisoners from one penal installation in southern Israel to another in preparation for their release.

Among the prisoners to be released on Tuesday are militants involved in deadly bombings and other attacks targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers. The internal Israeli debate, combined with the hero's welcome awaiting the Palestinian prisoners upon their return to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, reflect the sharply diverging narratives surrounding the swap. Israelis perceive the prisoners as cold-blooded terrorists, while in Palestinian society, prisoners are widely seen as resistance fighters.

The domestic debate in Israel largely focuses on whether Israel is paying too heavy a price. In Israel, Ron Kehrmann said he opposes the swap, which would free three militants involved in the 2003 suicide bombing that killed his 17-year-old daughter, Tal, and 16 others aboard a bus in the city of Haifa. Kehrmann said the release could result in more Israeli deaths.

"Is the blood of the next captured soldier or citizen less red than the blood of Gilad Schalit?" he asked. But other bereaved relatives believe the price is worth paying to free the captive soldier. The fate of Schalit, last seen in a 2009 video released by his captors, has preoccupied the nation since his capture in June 2006.

"To know your son is alive and not be able to hold him, this is the worst possible thing," said Yosefa Goldstein, whose daughter Sari, 21, died in a 2002 bus bombing. Many argue that militants who killed Israelis could return to armed activity and that releasing so many prisoners, including many implicated in some of the deadliest attacks in recent memory, bolsters groups like Hamas at the expense of more moderate Palestinians. These considerations, this position argues, outweigh the life of one soldier.

But Israel's government decided, with the backing of the security services and what would appear to be a majority of Israelis, that no better deal could be achieved and that Schalit's return justified the price.

Among Palestinians, there is ongoing disagreement over whether the use of violence has been counterproductive in the quest for statehood. However, even those opposed to violence on tactical grounds argue that the prisoners sacrificed for a common cause and that Palestinians have the right to resist Israel's 44-year military occupation.

In Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinians were preparing a hero's welcome for the returning prisoners. In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - largely sidelined during the swap negotiations between Israel's government and Hamas, his political rival - was to hold a reception for released prisoners Tuesday, said an aide, Saeb Erekat.

Kadura Fares, a member of Abbas' Fatah movement and activist on behalf of prisoners, said it's unlikely the competing narratives can ever be reconciled. "An Israeli army officer, from our point of view, he is a terrorist if he gives orders to kill people or bomb certain areas. For them (Israelis), he is a hero," just as Palestinians honor their own combatants, Fares said. "It's a debate that will never end."

He said bombers or gunmen should not be held personally responsible for their particular actions because they were swept up in the atmosphere that prevailed at the time. Recent polls indicate that support for attacks on Israelis has dropped since a rash of deadly bombings and shootings a decade ago, at the height of the second Palestinian uprising.

In Israel, the planned prisoner release led one man to carry out his own dramatic act of protest. Shvuel Schijveschuurder, 27, lost his parents and three siblings in 2001 when a suicide bomber blew up a crowded pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, killing 15 people. A Palestinian woman who transported the bomber to the restaurant is among those slated for release.

On Friday, Tel Aviv police arrested him for vandalizing a memorial to the assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in what seemed to be an attempt to draw attention to the family's opposition to the swap. Rabin's killer was an Israeli extremist who objected to his agreement to trade the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinians for peace.

Last week, after the decision was announced, Schijveschuurder's 20-year-old sister, Lea, stood outside a Jerusalem protest tent where 300 supporters of the deal were celebrating. She held a sign that read, "My parents' blood shouts from the grave."

A Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, told the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot in an interview published Sunday that the swap deal for Schalit will encourage the Islamic group to capture more soldiers. "The lessons we've learned by kidnapping soldiers leads us to continue the kidnappings," the Hamas leader said. "We still have 7,000 prisoners in (Israeli) jails, and they also need to be released."

In the Palestinian territories, families were waiting anxiously, especially for the return of some of the longest-serving prisoners. In the West Bank village of Kobar, 47-year-old Hanan Barghouti said she was counting down the hours until the release of her brother 57-year-old Nael, who has been in prison since 1978 for the killing of an Israeli man.

"We are waiting for him to come out, get married and have a family like everyone else," she said.

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