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Islamic Jihad Calls for Knife Attacks Against Soviet Jews Arriving in Israel

May 7, 1990
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The extremist Islamic Jihad movement in the Gaza Strip has threatened “a revolution of knives against the millions of Soviet Jews arriving in the country.”

The exhortation to use knives on Soviet Jewish immigrants was addressed to Moslem believers by the Islamic fundamentalist organization, which is urging that the intifada be escalated into a holy war.

It was contained in leaflets the Islamic Jihad, or Islamic Holy War, distributed in the Gaza Strip over the weekend.

Violent encounters between residents and Israeli security forces have, in fact, peaked on religious occasions.

One of the worst clashes of the nearly 29-month-old intifada occurred in the Gaza Strip on April 26 on the holiday of Id el-Fitr, marking the close of the monthlong fast of Ramadan.

About 1,000 residents of the Jabalya refugee camp stormed a local military outpost. The soldiers opened fire, killing three Palestinians and wounding 150.

In the West Bank, meanwhile, Mohammed Shaker el-Masri was killed in a confrontation with Israeli troops at the Tulkarm refugee camp Saturday. Palestinian sources said he was on the wanted list since the intifada began.

On Friday, Yasir Mohammed Abu-Hmeid, 19, was seriously wounded in a gunfight with soldiers at El-Amari refugee camp, near Ramallah.

Abu-Hmeid is suspected of murdering six Palestinians because they allegedly collaborated with Israeli authorities.

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