Firebrand British MP speaks of 'new Palestinian Intifada'

BEIRUT

British parliamentarian George Galloway – known for his staunch advocacy of the Palestinian cause – said Tuesday that a new Palestinian Intifada ("uprising") was now underway in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Galloway told The Anadolu Agency that the wave of calls in European parliaments for recognizing the state of Palestine had its roots in 1982, when the Sabra and Shatila massacre took place during Israel's bloody invasion of Lebanon.

Maan Bashour, coordinator of the Civil Campaign to Support Palestine (CCSP) in Lebanon, called for a tripartite Arab-Turkish-Iranian alliance aimed at achieving "justice, development and genuine independence in the region."

Galloway warned that a new intifada had begun that was much more complicated than the two previous ones, because the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) was working hard to contain it.

"The Palestinians in Gaza and Jerusalem are free," Galloway told The Anadolu Agency after concluding a meeting with the CCSP.

Even Palestinians within the so-called 1948 borders are increasingly returning to the political battlefield, Galloway added, asserting that PA President Mahmoud Abbas would be unable to contain mounting popular anger in areas under PA control.

Tension has run high in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in recent months following Israel's 51-day military onslaught on the Gaza Strip, in which over 2,160 Palestinians were killed.

Meanwhile, increasingly frequent intrusions by Jewish settlers and Israeli officials into East Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – along with fresh restrictions on Muslim worshippers at the site – have angered Palestinians and often led to clashes.

Tension mounted further on October 30, when Israel briefly closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex after an extremist rabbi was shot by a Palestinian man in West Jerusalem.

Since then, 11 Israelis, including two security personnel, have been killed – and several others injured – in a spate of attacks by Palestinians both inside Israel and in the occupied territories.