Palestinians Greet Attack on Israel With Fear, Pride

Palestinians went to their sealed rooms as Israelis did when Iraqi missiles struck this morning, many frightened and at the same time proud that an Arab nation had attacked the Jewish state.

Many complained no sirens sounded in the occupied territories to warn them of the early morning attack. Some Israelis said sirens in cities in the Jewish state were not loud enough to awaken them and they slept through the night.

In Gaza City, shouts of “Allahu akbar,” (God is great) greeted the first Israel radio reports of the Iraqi attack.

At Jerusalem’s historic Al Aqsa Mosque, preacher Sheik Daoud Atallah told Muslim worshipers: “God destroy Israel, God destroy the United States, God give victory to Saddam.”

Mohammed Khalaf, a longtime resident of Kuwait who is visiting Jericho for a family wedding, expressed mixed emotions.

“Maybe now the Israelis will think about negotiating a peace settlement,” said Khalaf, 41.

But he said he regretted any Israeli casualties from the missile barrage. Most of the 1.7 million Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip have supported Saddam Hussein because he has championed their independence.

But Saddam Hussein’s effort to link his occupation of Kuwait with Israel’s occupation of the territories has been rejected by Israel and its chief Western ally, the United States.

In recent weeks, when gas masks were distributed to the 4.5 million Jews and Arabs inside Israel, the Palestinians in the territories were left out.

Fewer than 2,000 masks have been distributed to Palestinians despite a Supreme Court order that they too are to get protective gear.

Saeb Erakat, a professor in Jericho, was bitter as he huddled with his family in two rooms they had sealed against a chemical weapons attack. He heard no warning sirens but learned about the missile strikes from a friend who called from the United States.

“Looking at my baby and my pregnant wife and knowing that even pets in Israel have gas masks, that made me really angry,” Erakat said, referring to sealed chambers built for some Israeli pets.

Reports from all major cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip said no sirens were sounded to alert the population.

Most Palestinians said they found out about the attack by listening to Israel radio’s Arabic service or through phone calls from friends.

In Bethlehem, people spread the warning after sirens were faintly heard droning in nearby Jerusalem.

An hour later an army jeep drove through the town of 30,000 sounding a mobile siren.

When asked whether there were sirens to give warnings in the occupied territories, the army said it would have to investigate before replying.