On the 40th anniversary of Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas warned on Tuesday that Palestinians are hovering on the brink of civil war. He said Israel's occupation between June 5th-10th, 1967, of these areas, 22 per cent of geographic Palestine, were black days for the Palestinians but castigated those responsible for current infighting which he said was even more damaging to the Palestinian cause than the Israeli occupation.
     Abbas is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the West Bank town of Jericho on Thursday but it is unlikely that they will discuss peacemaking. Olmert insists that they confine their exchange to day to day problems between their peoples until the time is propitious for negotiations over territory.
In Hebron about 300 Israeli demonstrators protested the planting of 400 ideological Jewish settlers at the heart of this West Bank city with 166,000 Palestinian citizens. The Israelis gathered behind metal barriers in a parking lot crowded with jeeps, armoured cars, police in blue and grey, and armed soldiers in khaki. Fresh faced students in white Peace Now T-shirts and grey headed veterans in multi-coloured shirts and badges brandished signs and banners proclaiming “40 Years Enough,” “End the Occupation,” and “Negotiate for 2 States.” They chanted, "The settlers of Hebron are a bone in the throat" and called for their evacuation. Soldiers armed with video cameras recorded the scene.
 A student from the Hebrew University remarked, “We're seen as the enemy, not the settlers.” Leftists from a variety of groups joined the rally although it was  arranged by mainstream Peace Now, an organisation formed in the aftermath of Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. One leftist quipped, “Peace Now did not manage to dismantle even one settlement these many years.”
On the other side of the sandy lot 35-40 settlers mounted a counter- demonstration, brandishing signs and the Israeli flag. Police and soldiers kept their distance but were ready for violence. Haim Oron, a member of parliamet from the left of centre Meretz party told Deccan Herald, “This demonstration is important for two reasons. Hebron more than any other place in the [occupied] territories is a symbol of all the evil and stupidity of the settlements. By putting Jewish settlers in the middle of a Palestinian city we have prevented compromises necessary
for a [two state] solution between Israel and the Palestinian nation. And,
settlement activity began at the Park Hotel in Hebron during March-April 1968." 
 The rally nearly did not take place because the army asked the Supreme
Court to cancel it.  The movement's Secretary General Yariv Oppenheimer said that the court allowed it to go ahead but limited the number to 150. "Three
hundred came. It's the first Peace Now protest in Hebron for five years."
 Christian Peacemaker teams in red brimmed caps and Ecumenical Accompa- niers in beige vests watched from the road. Paul Mukerji, a British accompanier
from Birmingham, said, "Hebron is a microcasm of the whole Israeli-Palestinian
conflict."  He and others based in Hebron interpose on a daily basis between
Palestinians and settlers who seek to move into Palestinian properties, prevent
Palestinian children from attending school, and harrassing Palestinians trying to live normally while navigating Israel's checkpoints, walls and barriers.