ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701200139
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HEBRON, WEST BANK
SOURCE: Associated Press
SETTLERS ASSERTED THEIR DIMINISHED PRESENCE as Palestinians marched through the 80 percent of Hebron that now belongs to them.
Palestinians celebrated the long-delayed start of autonomy in Hebron to the wail of bagpipes Saturday and cheered political leaders who vowed to wrest the remaining fifth of the city from Israeli rule.
Palestinian boys and girls - some in the uniform of the newly arrived Palestinian police - waved flags and posters of Yasser Arafat. They marched through the city in bright sunshine, then squeezed into a crowded schoolyard to hear speeches from government officials and political leaders.
``Today we are celebrating the liberation of most of Hebron,'' said Palestinian Transportation Minister Ali Qawasmi. ``But another part is still under occupation. So we will struggle - both the government and the people - in order to liberate the rest of Hebron.''
Twenty percent of Hebron remains under Israeli control. Dozens of Jewish settlers, who live in a handful of enclaves in Hebron's center, danced in the streets Saturday in a defiant show of strength.
Jibril Rajoub, head of Palestinian preventive security, accused the 500 Jewish settlers who live amid Hebron's 130,000 Palestinians of breeding ``hate and violence and terror.''
``They are big stones on our chest - so we have to take them off!'' he shouted to wild cheers and applause from the crowd. ``They have to understand the new facts and stop harassing our people because we are here to protect the people of Hebron.''
A festive atmosphere prevailed in most of Hebron, a day after Palestinian authorities took control of 80 percent of the city from Israel in a simple handover that belied the preceding months of laborious negotiations.
Strings of Palestinian flags and posters of Arafat festooned the streets. One man decorated his car with red, green, black and white ribbons in the shape of a Palestinian flag.
Arafat is to visit Hebron today, Palestinian officials said.
Settler spokesman David Wilder told The Associated Press that Arafat's visit would be ``a desecration of the second holiest city to Judaism. Arafat's hands are soaked with the blood of Jewish men, women and children.''
Hebron is the last of the eight Palestinian cities in the West Bank to gain autonomy. Agreement over Israel's redeployment was held up for months by Israeli concerns for the security of the settlers.
On Saturday, dozens of settlers - some in white prayer shawls - formed a large circle and danced in the street near the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Palestinian shopkeepers watched the show of assertiveness.
The Tomb, where the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are said to be buried, is holy to Jews and Muslims and a focus of much tension.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB