Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Israel frees 255 Palestinians

The gesture is meant to provide a political boost to moderate leadership opposed to Hamas.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 21, 2007

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Family and friends joyously hugged 255 Palestinians freed by Israel on Friday, hoisting them on shoulders for a boisterous heroes' welcome meant to give President Mahmoud Abbas a political boost in his power struggle with Hamas.

But thousands more Palestinians remained in Israeli jails, and aides to Abbas said Israel must do more to help the moderate leader after years of failed peace efforts.

The Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip by force last month, belittled the prisoner release. Most of those let go were members of Abbas' largely secular Fatah movement and none belonged to Hamas.

Elation reigned at Abbas' West Bank headquarters. Thousands of whistling, cheering and clapping Palestinians greeted the freed men as their buses rolled into the walled compound in Ramallah.

Shaded from the fierce sun by a big Palestinian flag, Mohammed Abdullah scoured the buses for a glimpse of his 27-year-old son, Majdi, who served half of a 10-year sentence for anti-Israeli activities as a member of the al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a violent Fatah offshoot.

After spotting Majdi, Abdullah and his wife, Fatima, embraced their son, showered him with candy and said they had slaughtered a calf in his honor.

Some of the prisoners suggested the era of armed attacks on Israel is over. "We want to send a message to the rest of the world that we want peace for our people," Majdi Abdullah said.

Others said they were eager to take revenge against Hamas for the Gaza takeover.

Israel holds some 9,200 Palestinians, most arrested during the past seven years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Almost every Palestinian family has had a member in Israeli jails at some point, making the fate of prisoners one of the most emotionally charged issues in dealing with Israel.

[Last modified July 20, 2007, 23:09:05]