Palestinians: 'Ethnic cleansing' in Iraq

[sabra]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359764921&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Palestinians: 'Ethnic cleansing' in Iraq

After 18 members of her family were brutally murdered by Shi'ite militiamen in Baghdad, Nadia Othman, a 36-year-old Palestinian mother of three, finally managed to escape to Jordan together with hundreds of Palestinian families that had been living in Iraq for decades.

In 2006, more than 600 Palestinians were killed in the Iraqi capital in what Palestinian leaders and political activists are describing as a "systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing." Thousands of Palestinian families have been forced to flee Iraq since the downfall of Saddam Hussein, but many still have no place to go to.

...

Today, Nadia said, "There are less than 10,000 Palestinians living in Iraq and most of them are afraid to walk out of their homes. My sister, who stayed behind, told me this week that she hasn't left her apartment in the Baladiyat suburb of Baghdad for the past three weeks for fear of being killed by Shi'ite militiamen. I'm very concerned for the safety of my mother and five brothers who have still not been able to escape from Iraq."

Nadia's decision to leave her home came shortly after one of her brothers, Muhammad Rashid, was killed by Shi'ite gunmen as he was on his way to the school where he worked as an Arabic language teacher.

"The murderers stopped him in the street, asked for his ID documents, and when they saw that he was a Palestinian refugee, they immediately fired three bullets at his head," she said. "On the same day, they kidnapped and murdered Farid Al-Sayed, chairman of the Palestinian-controlled Haifa Sports Club in Iraq."

[twylatharp]

1. I didn't know about this

How many more horrors can the US be responsible for?

[PFunk]

2. Damn.

First the isreali's now this. As if the Palestinians didn't have anything else to worry about.

[Tom Joad]

3. 600 Palestinians were killed by the US sponsored regime of Israel too.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/807007.html

According to an annual B'Tselem report, from the beginning of 2006 to December 27, Israeli security forces have killed 660 Palestinians, a figure more than three times the number of Palestinians killed in 2005, which was 197.

The data compiled by the human rights organization also indicated a significant decrease in Israeli casualties. Palestinians killed 23 Israelis in 2006 - 17 civilians, among them one minor, and six Israel Defense Forces soldiers. The figure constitutes less than half of the 50 Israelis killed in 2005.

_________________________________

It should be noted that Palestinians are not allowed to return to their homeland by the Israeli occupation regime.

[eyl]

4. OTW: Hey! Look over there! n/t