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Palestinians Mark Four Years of Uprising

Palestinians marked the start of the fifth year of the Palestinian uprising, otherwise known as the intifada, on Tuesday. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei’ said Israelis and Palestinians should re-examine the past four years and escape the circle of violence.

Qurei’ told journalists that this is an opportunity for officials and the public alike to examine where they have gone wrong.

He rebuked the Israeli government for continuing four years of bloodshed on both sides and criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s refusal to sit with Palestinian leaders and renew negotiations.

September 28 marks the date when Ariel Sharon, then head of the opposition, ascended the Temple Mount in 2000. Palestinians saw this as a provocative act and say this sparked the violence that has since cost more than 4,000 lives on both sides.

Palestinian termed the uprising the Al-Aq’sa Intifada, referring to the Temple Mount compound where the Al-Aq’sa Mosque is located.

The Islamic Jihad organization has declared it will continue its “radiant resistance” in Palestinian territories and expressed solidarity with the Iraqi resistance against the “American plan to redraw the map of the region.”

According to the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, 3,082 Palestinians and 1,072 Israelis have been killed since the uprising began in September 2000, including many children.

Read TML Bureau Chief David Harris’s reflections on four years of the uprising here. [2]