ISRAEL: MILITARY PARADE STAGED TO CELEBRATE JERUSALEM DAY

(24 May 1998) Natural Sound

Israel on Sunday staged its biggest military parade in years to commemorate the capture of the city's eastern sector in the 1967 six-day war.

Palestinians, who want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, condemned the day's festivities as a provocation.

A top Palestinian official angrily criticised a U-S congressional delegation of leading politicians for what he called efforts to influence the city's status.

Thousands of Israeli paratroopers, pilots and sailors - together with veterans of all of Israel's wars marched up a main Jerusalem thoroughfare lined by tens of thousands of cheering spectators.

The march included 20 "humvees" mounted with machine guns and army jeeps, plus 13-thousand soldiers.

U-S-made F-15 fighter planes and C-130 transport planes flew overhead.

The parade was to celebrate Jerusalem Day - marking Israel's capture of east Jerusalem from Jordanian forces in the 1967 six-day war.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem shortly after the war.

Most of the world has withheld recognition of the annexation, awaiting final determination of the city's status in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

This year's Jerusalem Day celebrations were more elaborate than usual because they fall during celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Israel's independence.

Israel has not held such a large-scale military parade since after the
1973 war.

Palestinians condemned the celebrations - along with Jordan and Syria - and said the tone of it suggested Israel is not serious about negotiating peace.

They said they would not give up their own claim to the city's eastern sector.

A top Palestinian official also criticised a U-S congressional delegation to the city.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the presence of leading U-S politicians was a "major provocation".

He called it "unbelievable and unprecedented" that legislators from a foreign country would try to influence the status of the city.

The delegation includes U-S House Speaker Newt Gingrich, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

In a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gingrich defended his visit and said his concerns were for peace within the region.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We came first to celebrate 50 years of achievement. We came also, hopefully, to launch a second 50 years of even greater achievement, greater prosperity, greater safety. And we also came to indicate our belief that it is very, very important that peace have within it the concept of security."
SUPER CAPTION: Newt Gingrich, U-S Speaker of the House of Representatives

Netanyahu also said he wanted go achieve peace with the Palestinians.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I said here in this hotel on Friday that the peace process was in dire straits in the first two years of Oslo. I repeat that statement. Our job has been to try to get a peace process, a real peace process on track. That is required that we take on significant problems that had hitherto been not treated with the kind of purposefulness and determination that we have in order to ensure that we and the Palestinians achieve a genuine peace between us."
SUPER CAPTION: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister

Gingrich earlier drew sharp criticism from Palestinians when he announced plans to visit the controversial proposed site of a new U-S embassy in Jerusalem.

The American embassy, like nearly all foreign embassies, is currently in Tel Aviv.


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