The Palestinian leadership has called for marches across the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a three-minute silence to commemorate the Nakba (Great Catastrophe), when 700,000 of them were uprooted from their homes amid fighting over the creation of Israel in 1948.
Palestinian officials said Yasser Arafat would deliver an "address to the nation" at 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat of Palestinian government.
It was not immediately clear if Arafat would respond to Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's charge on Tuesday that the PA was a "corrupt terror regime" which must be reformed as a condition of any resumption of peace talks.
Indicating reform was afoot, a Palestinian cabinet statement said on Tuesday night Arafat had ratified a law establishing an independent judiciary, thus righting a wrong long deplored by civil rights groups.
"The cabinet welcomed...the ratification...considering it the solid base for the rule of law and principles, and for the separation of government authorities," the statement said.
A vote by Israel's Likud party ruling out the prospect of a Palestinian state represents "a refusal by Likud and the Israeli government of a just peace", the Palestinian leadership said.
Describing late Sunday's vote as a "serious decision", the leadership said in a statement carried by the official WAFA agency that the vote was also a rejection of "a just peace between two peoples, founded on the principle of an exchange of land for peace, and of United Nations resolutions."
The Palestinian leadership also called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan "to pursue his efforts in preparing a report on the crimes of the Israeli government and army in Jenin." It also reiterated "the need to send international forces into the Palestinian territories."
On Tuesday night, hospital officials in the West Bank city of Bethlehem said Israeli troops on an incursion wounded a Palestinian activist. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
