Fatah leader calls for resistance

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 27 (UPI) -- Imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti called on the Palestinians to wage a new round of resistance activities against Israel.

Barghouti, serving five life sentences in Israel for his role in terror attacks in which scores of Israelis were killed, urged the uprising Monday, Haaretz reported.

"Opening a wide scale civil resistance at this stage will serve the cause of our people …," Haaretz quoted Barghouti's letter as saying Tuesday. "It must be understood that there is no partner for peace in Israel when the settlements have doubled. It is the Palestinian people's right to oppose the occupation by all means and the resistance must be focused on the 1967 territories."

He added, "The Palestinian Authority must stop all coordination with Israel -- economic and security -- and work toward Palestinian reconciliation."

Barghouti's remarks were made ahead of Land Day Friday when thousands of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria plan to hold mass demonstrations protesting Israel's land policies. The day also marks the death of six Israeli Arabs in 1976 who were killed during demonstrations against Israeli government plans to take control of land in the Galilee and the Negev.

Dubbed "Global March To Jerusalem," pro-Palestinian organizations abroad have called for peaceful marches at Israel's borders and outside Israeli embassies.