Ramadan holiday: a feast without joy to many Palestinians

For thousands of Palestinian families, celebrations of this year's Eid Al Fitr, which starts Monday, are very limited. They even lack the sense of happiness. They have been waiting for the release of their relatives held in Israel but the lack of progress towards peace and the Israeli government's intransigence have caused this current atmosphere of despair and dissatisfaction.

When US President Bill Clinton visited the Palestinian controlled areas last month, he met with children of some of the Palestinian prisoners in Israel. He expressed hopes that their fathers and brothers would be released soon. Nihad Zaqqout, a nine year old girl who lives in Jabalya refugee camp near Gaza, said she felt deeply sad "because President Clinton broke his promise when he told me that my father would be released from prison before the holidays." Nihad became famous when her sincere words before President Clinton made him cry the day he was in Gaza last month. The whole world saw President Clinton wiping a tear in his eye and then passing his own handkerchief to Nihad to wipe out hers, promising her that her father would be released before the Ramadan feast.

Nihad said she she could not be optimistic enough to expect the release of her father during this holiday, that starts Monday. When asked about her feelings when she saw President Clinton cry, Nihad said she felt he was sincere but "it seems he cannot exert any pressure on Israel." Though Nihad admitted she bought new clothes for the holiday, she said that her joy would not be complete without the release of her father. "I am not happy at all. I want to see my father out of prison as early as possible. I want to hug him on the morning of the Eid like all the children of the world."

Fida' Washah is only nine years old. Her father, too, is serving a life sentence in the Israeli desert prison of Nafha in the south. She said she could not feel that holidays are coming up because of the fact that she would not celebrate the feast with her father. "I do not understand how do the Israelis want to reach a genuine peace with us yet not release the prisoners?"

The continued imprisonment of over 2,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israel and the ailing economic conditions in the Palestinian controlled areas have added up to what experts call the radicalization of the Palestinian society. A poll conducted lately by the Nablus-based Center for Palestinian Research and Studies between 7-9 January this year showed that support for the peace process among the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has dropped from 66 t o 57 percent. It showed also that support for continued armed attacks on Israelis has risen from 41 to 53 percent. However, 60 percent of those questioned still supported the continuation of the peace process with Israel. By contrast, only 14 percent of those questioned supported the Palestinian return to techniques of armed struggle and 16 percent support going back to the Intifada, Arabic for uprising. In light of the latest impasse in talks, the number of Palestinians who support a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state has increased from 46 a few months ago up to 57 percent, the poll conductors said.