The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.2           January 13, 1997 
 
 
Tensions Sharpen In Mideast  
As we go to press, tensions sharpened in the West Bank over the continued Israeli occupation of the city of Hebron and the refusal of Tel Aviv to abide by previous agreements and withdraw its troops from the city. Under the accords between Tel Aviv and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Israeli forces were supposed to have been withdrawn from the Palestinian city last March, but the Israeli regime continues to stall. On January 1 an Israeli soldier, Noam Friedman, opened gunfire in a crowded marketplace (above), wounding six Palestinians. He said his intent was to block any withdrawal from Hebron. Israeli officials immediately began painting a picture of Friedman as mentally ill. Yasir Abed Rabbo, the Palestinian minister of information, replied, "If these claims that the settler is psychologically ill, which is something that is repeated every time there is a criminal act against Palestinians, are true, why do they insist on arming these psychological patients?"

 
 
 
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