Demonstrators in the Arab world continued to manifest their support for the Palestinians Friday, sometimes violently, as more died in clashes with Israeli forces in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Thousands of people also marched in Kuwait, which has been on bad terms with the Palestinians for a decade, a number of other Gulf states as well as in Iran.
In the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon, Lebanon, a military parade was staged by the Islamic fundamentalist groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Jamaa Islamiya.
Around 60 people, dressed in military fatigues, carried Kalashnikov assault rifles, rocket launchers, sniper rifles and even cardboard boxes marked "dynamite" strapped to their backs, apparently a sign that they were prepared to carry out suicide bombings.
One of the military instructors said the parade had been organized to show that "armed conflict is the only way to liberate Jerusalem."
There were also demonstrations at the Burj el-Shemali refugee camp in Tyre and in the city of Tripoli.
In Manama, hundreds of demonstrators, including a number of Bahraini ministers and other government officials, rallied to condemn Israel's "savage crimes" against the Palestinians.
"Jews must be killed wherever they are are," a Muslim cleric said over the loudspeaker at the rally, which was broadcast live on Bahraini TV.
The crowd reacted with calls for jihad and of Allahu Akbar (God is greatest), as well as "Down with Zionist America".
In Cairo, the imam of of Al-Azhar, the most prestigious authority in Islam's majority Sunni sect, denounced the "agression by tyrants who seem to think they are invincible."
But in a televised Friday sermon, attended by senior military officers and the defense minister, Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi repeatedly stressed "the importance of force."
"Force is a quality of God and a quality of his prophet, Mohamed," the imam said.
Demonstrations in Egypt have been almost a daily occurrence for the past week and continued Friday -- outside the Al-Azhar mosque, as well as in the south, the delta region and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
Israeli and American flags were burnt in Kuwait City during a demonstration organized by the Islamist Kuwait Students Union, with demands for a boycott of Israeli products.
Numerous Palestinian flags were brandished by demonstrators, a first in 10 years, since Kuwait fell out with the Palestinians for backing Iraq's invasion of the country.
There were also demonstrations in Oman, a country that has trading, but not diplomatic, relations with Israel - NICOSIA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
