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Uprising Leaders Designate Friday As Day of Clashes with the Army

May 1, 1989
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The leadership of the Palestinian uprising has called for a day of clashes with the Israeli armed forces on Friday, the last day of the Moslem holy month of Ramadan.

But in an unusual departure, the latest leaflet issued by the unified national leadership of the uprising sharply condemns Arab nations for their alleged failure to support the Palestinian struggle.

Leaflet No. 39, which was circulated Friday in the administered territories, denounces Arab regimes for maintaining “silence in view of the massacre by Israeli forces in the territories.”

It also accuses them of mistreating their own and other Arab peoples. It singles out the Jordanian government for its tough suppression of popular protests against recent hikes in the prices of basic foodstuffs.

According to Ha’aretz, the leaflet is the first ever to refer to the internal affairs of Arab countries.

It also unequivocally rejects the Israeli proposal for elections in the territories and warns residents to “stop the attempts to express agreement with the Shamir plan.”

PRAYERS AND BOYCOTTS

It contains a call for a “complete halt to (Palestinian) participation in meetings called by the (Israeli) civil administration and refusal to participate in political talks at collective meetings with commanders of the occupation.”

Moslems are urged in the leaflet to respond to the appeals by the Supreme Moslem Council in East Jerusalem to attend prayers at the Temple Mount during Ramadan “in order to protect the holy sites of Islam.”

They are urged to pray at the Al-Aksa mosque or at police and military checkpoints if they are stopped on the way to the mosque.

The leaflet exhorts residents of the territories to engage this Friday in “a special day of clashes with army forces as a sign of protest at the aggression against our holy places.”

It contains another call to boycott fruits and vegetables from Israel and to refuse to market them. Residents of the territories who have jobs in Israel are urged to give them up and work instead in Arab plants in the territories.

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