LONDON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- London's al-Quds al-Arabi: Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims have the right to celebrate Israel's Gaza pullout as the first territory liberated via resistance."
The independent daily described the move as a "historic moment in times filled with Arab defeats, setbacks and frustrations on all fronts," saying it was the second victory after the liberation of southern Lebanon in 2000 from Israeli occupation. It was not liberated because of the Arab armies, the policies of normalization (with Israel) or the peace accords, the paper insisted, but from the armed resistance against the Israeli occupation. It predicted that just as the myth of Israel's power has failed in Gaza, other myths will fall, "such as the myth of the racist wall," saying the separation fence and the Jewish settlements in the West Bank will become burdens on Israel like the settlements in Gaza. The daily said the Israelis should not be compensated for their withdrawal because "criminals should be not be rewarded and international outlaws should pay for occupying others." It argued that just as the Israelis forced the Germans to pay more than $130 billion as compensation for the Nazi victims, "the world should force Israel to pay compensation to the Palestinian people for its occupation and building settlements on their lands. Israel should pay for every drop of water it stole from the Gaza Strip, for every fish from its sea and for ever inch of land it farmed and exported its produce to Europe."
