The Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank is a step towards liberating Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei declared on Thursday.
Addressing thousands of Palestinians during a rally organized by the ruling Fatah party in Gaza City, Qurei said no Palestinian would ever give up one inch of Jerusalem. "The process of national struggle will continue until we reach Jerusalem and celebrate there and in the West Bank," he said.
The rally, marking the beginning of celebrations over disengagement, was also held to celebrate the birthday of former PA chairman Yasser Arafat, who died in a French hospital last November.
Echoing Arafat's famous battle cry, Qurei said: "We will proceed from one victory to another until we achieve the big victory – when one of our roses or juveniles will hoist the Palestinian flag on the walls of the Old City [of Jerusalem] and its minarets and churches."



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Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu believes that in the aftermath of Israel's upcoming departure, "Gaza will be transformed into a base for Islamic terrorism adjacent to the coast of the State of Israel."
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, Netanyahu said the terror threat that would develop in a post-withdrawal Gaza would be a danger not only for Israel but for the Western world in general.
"This it isn't just our problem," he claimed. "It's the West's problem as well because forces that are controlled, deployed and cooperate with Iran - and today Hizbullah and Hamas are controlled in a significant way by Iran - will receive an additional base of operations not only in close proximity to Israel's cities but also on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea not far from
Europe."Netanyahu, who said the majority of the public supported the withdrawal, defended his decision to remain in the government in spite of his strenuous opposition to the withdrawal of IDF units and the expulsion of the 10,000 Israelis who live in the areas.He argued that the plan enjoyed an automatic majority in the Knesset and the government that would not be affected by his resignation.
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By Cal Thomas
In the H.G Wells novel and subsequent film, “The Invisible Man,” the main character takes a dangerous drug and slowly disappears.
That is a metaphor for what is happening to Israel as it plans its latest unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, which it once occupied for security purposes. Israel is slowly disappearing, and the twin drugs of appeasement and self-delusion are responsible.
The disengagement later this month (which is actually a retreat and is seen that way by Israel’s enemies) will not be the end, anymore than previous retreats, concessions, goodwill gestures and written documents have produced security or peace in the region.
Only after Israel is destroyed will the West realize what it did and failed to do, but it will find convenient and comforting explanations to absolve itself from any blame. Jews, you see, are always responsible not only for the world’s problems, but for bringing destruction upon themselves by virtue of their being Jews.
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