Khalil Shikaki, head of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. (AP)
Palestinians Attack Scholar over "Right of Return" Findings Story aired: Monday, July 14, 2003
On Sunday, a mob attacked a prominent Palestinian pollster as he prepared to announce findings that a vast majority of Palestinians would be willing to abandon the right of return -- to reclaim land their families once lived on in Israel, so long as they are compensated.
Khalil Shikaki, the head of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, was struck, shoved, and pelted with eggs. While Shikaki was not seriously injured, the incident is a clear example of the sharp divide between Palestinians themselves on the peace process.
PALESTINIAN PRISONERS CALL FOR TAXI DRIVER RELEASE
His taxi found with the engine still running on the west bank last Friday, 61-year-old Eliahu Gurel is feared kidnapped by Palestinian militants. In an indication of the nuances now at play in the Middle East peace process, a group of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails has called for the taxi driver's safe return.
Israel has released 300 Palestinians in recent weeks, and the prisoners may fear that no one else will be freed if the driver is killed.
The prisoners' gesture, with a note of reconciliation in it, is tempered by new threats by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who say they may end their present ceasefire if the Palestinian Authority attempts to disarm them.
