Israeli Military Orders Curfews During Uprising Anniversaries

The military clamped curfews on much of the Israeli-occupied territories today in advance of the third anniversary of the Palestinian uprising, which one analyst maintains cannot die down because it has “no alternative.”

This weekend marks two important dates in the uprising--two months on Saturday since Israeli police opened fire and killed at least 17 Palestinians on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City and the third anniversary on Sunday of the intifada , the Arabic name given to the Palestinian uprising.

Recent leaflets by Palestinian nationalist and Muslim fundamentalist underground leaders called on Palestinians to fight the Israeli occupation with “all forms of struggle.” Israeli officials have interpreted the phrase to mean a possible rise in the use of guns and other weapons, which Palestinians generally have refrained from using against Israelis during most of the uprising.

In the wake of the slayings on the Temple Mount, Islam’s third holiest site, Arabs carried out a series of stabbing attacks against Israelis. Four Israelis were killed and several were wounded.

Two Palestinian teen-agers from the West Bank were arrested in Jerusalem’s Old City today in possession of knives, police said. During interrogation, the teen-agers told police that they had planned to stab soldiers or police officers, a police spokesman said.

Palestinians in the occupied territories proclaimed general strikes for Saturday and Sunday.