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Last update - 17:04 15/12/2008
Abbas: Israel must free all 11,000 Palestinian prisoners
By Tomer Zarchin, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Tags: Palestinians, Supreme Court 

Israel on Monday released 227 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), which marks the end of the hajj pilgrimage.

Of the prisoners, 209 were transferred from Ofer Prison, near Jerusalem, to the Beituniya checkpoint in the West Bank. The remaining 18 prisoners were to be transferred from Shikma Prison in the Negev, to the Erez checkpoint on the Israel-Gaza border.

At his office in Ramallah, Abbas greeted each of the 209 prisoners released to the West Bank individually with kisses on the cheeks, but said Israel should release all Palestinians it was holding.
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"Our happiness will not be complete until all of the 11,000 prisoners are freed," he said. "We promise you we will work to free all prisoners from all factions."

Hundreds of relatives and supporters waited on the Palestinian side of the Beitunia checkpoint, waving Palestinian and yellow flags of Abbas' secular Fatah movement and carrying posters of late Fatah leader Yasser Arafat.

The two Palestinian territories have divided leadership. Gaza is ruled by the militant Hamas organization, which refuses to recognize Israel; the West Bank territories are largely under the control of Abbas and his Fatah organization, which is engaged in a sporadic peace process with Israel.

"We hope these releases will be seen as an important confidence-building measure designed to strengthen the trust and the confidence in the [peace] negotiations," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The Supreme Court gave a green light Monday morning for the release, hours after Justice Elyakim Rubinstein ordered that the state must first reply to a petition against it. The petitioners had argued that freeing jailed Palestinians placed the region at risk of renewed conflagration.

According to prosecutors, an examination of the prisoners listed for release showed that none had been charged with causing injury to Israelis, Army Radio reported.

As a matter of general precedent, the courts rarely intervene with the government's decisions on matters of policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians.

The prisoners being freed are a fraction of the 11,000 Palestinians held by Israel. Their release was originally due to take place last week, during Eid.

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      1.   Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein 02:35  |  Ginarmy 15/12/08
      2.   Certainly some increase 06:40  |  Mark Lincoln 15/12/08
      3.   Terrorists are not entitled to the protected status of POWs. 08:31  |  Jean Van Daem 15/12/08
      4.   #3 Then stop declaring that Israel is at war with them, Jean 09:31  |  Johnboy 15/12/08
      5.   #4 Johnboy,are you THAT stupid? 10:48  |  Hastaroth 15/12/08
      6.   to Jean: all those in prisons 11:03  |  rebecca 15/12/08
      7.   Hastaroth #5 11:31  |  Ef 15/12/08
      8.   POWs 11:34  |  Justin 15/12/08
      9.   Why? 12:00  |  Baruch Gold 15/12/08
      10.   Releasing Islamist-Jihadists 12:29  |  Brod 15/12/08
      11.   what kind of a "gesture" is this when.... 12:33  |  ramin 15/12/08
      12.   Where is Gilad Shalit? 12:42  |  Dave 15/12/08
      13.   #4: I`ll tell you what I don`t understand 13:26  |  Jo 15/12/08
      14.   justin 13:29  |  david 15/12/08
      15.   Israel`s Judicial System is nothing but a Sham! 13:54  |  Dagma 15/12/08
      16.   Many of those 11000 prisoners have done nothing! 14:12  |  Jack 15/12/08
      17.   An obscene gesture towards the Israel public 14:13  |  Gideon Reader 15/12/08
      18.   meant as trust-building measure that only accomplishes 14:17  |  Avi 15/12/08
      19.   #4: Johnboy, the Pals are expert at cherry-picking 15:19  |  DOC HOLLIDAY 15/12/08
      20.   Predictable response 16:12  |  Angel 15/12/08
      21.   ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK/GAZA Answer 16:20  |  Itamar Shabtai 15/12/08
      22.   Angel - Predictable indeed... Now we just wait for 16:45  |  Ben 15/12/08
      23.   #20 16:51  |  jo 15/12/08
      24.   "Complete Happiness of Abbas" = more terror attacks on Israelis. 17:05  |  Fortuna Benmayor 15/12/08
      25.   some thank you... never grateful always want more 17:24  |  Avi 15/12/08
      26.   Ef in so called `Tel Aviv` 17:34  |  x-ray 15/12/08
      27.   Can you imagine if it was the other way around, I can see it now 17:37  |  bargainers you`renot 15/12/08
      28.   227 released 17:48  |  Joe 15/12/08
      29.   What would really build confidence 17:50  |  Tzfonit 15/12/08
      30.   release all child prisoners NOW! 17:53  |  Eli wiesel 15/12/08
      31.   It really depends on what they did. 17:55  |  De 15/12/08
      32.   To: Jo 17:55  |  Angel 15/12/08
      33.   give a hand, take an arm 18:07  |  judith 15/12/08
      34.   Kisses from the snake 18:34  |  dave schwep 15/12/08
      35.   To: Ef 18:43  |  Angel 15/12/08
      36.   To: Wien 18:47  |  Angel 15/12/08
      37.   #3, Jean Van Daem wants it all ways at once... 18:48  |  Silvienne 15/12/08
      38.   to Tzfonit 18:54  |  rm 15/12/08
      39.   Release Prisoners... 18:57  |  Scott L. Havsy 15/12/08
      40.   Johnboy # 4 It Doesn`t Make Any Difference 18:57  |  Jeff Northridge 15/12/08
      41.   Israel should go Abbas one better .... 19:23  |  Angel 15/12/08
      42.   To: Silvienne 19:26  |  Angel 15/12/08
      43.   This is a drop in the bucket.... 20:05  |  dutch 15/12/08
      44.   Abbas: Israel must free all 11,000 Palestinian prisoners 20:08  |  Joshua 15/12/08
      45.   To Angle re silvienne - silvienne doesnt care 20:27  |  Adrian de Klerk 15/12/08
      46.   #25 x-ray 20:38  |  Boycott 15/12/08
      47.   Shalit, Pollard & POW/MIAs HATED.Muslim Terrorists Highly FAVORED 20:51  |  Linda Rivera 15/12/08
      48.   when has fatah been considerd secular?? 20:51  |  Adam 15/12/08
      49.   How long before they murder some more Jews? 21:34  |  Steve from Raleigh 15/12/08
      50.   Israel must free 11000 Palestinian Prisoners....? 22:04  |  Diagnostic 15/12/08
      51.   to Angel, #34 22:08  |  Ef 15/12/08
      52.   Of course its a war, Johnboy. the entire civilized world 22:40  |  Jack 15/12/08
      53.   #13 Jo 22:57  |  Jasper 15/12/08
      54.   Abbas and his crap 23:56  |  Brod 15/12/08
      55.   To: Ef 00:02  |  Angel 16/12/08
      56.   Isn`t life supposed to be a two-way street 00:03  |  Salty 16/12/08
      57.   47, Linda put a sock in it! 00:21  |  lydia 16/12/08
      58.   Boycott # 46 Enemy Combatants Are Not Protected Persons 00:51  |  Jeff Northridge 16/12/08
      59.   "confidence-building measure" 01:29  |  hollingsworth 16/12/08
      60.   hollingsworth,thats 2% more prisioners released than the pals 01:58  |  terrornator 16/12/08
      61.   Linda Rivera - Jonathan Pollard is a traitor 02:10  |  Mark Lincoln 16/12/08
      62.   Linda Rivera #47 Pollard is a spy 02:11  |  Jake 16/12/08
      63.   The answer Johnboy is 02:18  |  Mark Lincoln 16/12/08
      64.   President Mahmoud Abbas is way out of line 03:06  |  Judea 16/12/08
      65.   # 49 excuse me steve from raleigh; but who are you kidding? 03:20  |  eric 16/12/08
      66.   Justin, let`s please be serious here... 03:49  |  Ben 16/12/08
      67.   46Whether you like it or not Hamas is the legitimate 04:19  |  lydia 16/12/08
      68.   Education; Luxury; Multiple PRIVILEGES for IMPRISONED TERRORISTS 05:02  |  Linda Rivera 16/12/08
      69.   Rebecca #6 05:14  |  Jasper 16/12/08
      70.   Lydia - the question of legitimacy 05:36  |  Mark Lincoln 16/12/08
      71.   We have seen these curious gestures before 05:56  |  Mark Lincoln 16/12/08
      72.   WHY? Have those released stopped terrorist activities? 06:30  |  PETER SM 16/12/08
      73.   Education; Luxury; Multiple PRIVILEGES for IMPRISONED TERRORISTS 06:51  |  Linda Rivera 16/12/08
      74.   #5 Hastaroth jumps on his soapbox 06:59  |  Johnboy 16/12/08
      75.   #40 It makes a very big difference, Jeff. 07:10  |  Johnboy 16/12/08
      76.   #52 Yeah, Jack, and I hear there is a war on obesity too.... 07:19  |  Johnboy 16/12/08
      77.   62 Linda Rivera - The Return of the Gulag 07:43  |  Mark of Lewiston 16/12/08
      78.   Abbas want all freed, all of Palestine, and us gone 07:49  |  Ilan 16/12/08
      79.   Boycott we have not yet defined country borders. 14:01  |  x-ray 16/12/08
      80.   To: Lydia in Brisbane 15:52  |  Angel 16/12/08
      81.   Media manipulation? 16:01  |  Angel 16/12/08
      82.   To eric - #65 20:32  |  Allan 19/02/09
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