Palestinians Resist Radicals’ Call For Violence

Disregarding a call to violence from Islamic radicals, Palestinians prayed peacefully at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque Friday and avoided confrontation with Israeli occupation troops in Gaza and the West Bank.

The calm resulted in large measure from renewed cooperation by Israeli and Palestinian authorities preparing the way for Sunday’s launching of a new round of negotiations between Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Israeli government.

Even if only for a day, the lack of conflict constituted a rebuff to the Islamic Resistance Movement, known by its Arabic acronym as Hamas, and a vote of confidence in Arafat’s leadership.