It was also the French that sold a reactor to Iraq.
The Israelis blew that one up.
Back to the topic of this thread.
Palestinians Blame Militants for Invasion
Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated Tuesday after a five-day Israeli invasion damaged farms and buildings, but in a rare twist, their wrath was directed at Palestinian militants for inviting the attack by firing rockets from their property.
Two hours after Israeli troops left, about 600 angry residents of the town of 35,000 took to the streets in a spontaneous protest, complaining that the militants had caused Israel to destroy 15 houses and uproot thousands of olive, citrus and date palm trees. It was a rare outburst; most Palestinian demonstrations are aimed at Israel
The protesters blocked a main road with trash cans, rocks and burning tires in a show of outrage against the militants. Most of the rockets are launched at towns inside Israel by members of the militant Islamic movement, Hamas.
They (the militants) claim they are heroes," said Mohammed Zaaneen, 30, a farmer, as he carried rocks into the street. "They brought us only destruction and made us homeless. They used our farms, our houses and our children ... to hide."
Israeli forces pulled back to the edge of the town, Beit Hanoun, a letup that came despite a wave of five Palestinian suicide bombings that killed 12 people in Israel in addition to the attackers. The pullback suggested Israel might not undertake a large-scale punitive military operation, as it has in the past, so as not to weaken the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Israeli forces on Tuesday arrested a top Palestinian intelligence officer, Ahmed Birkawi, who was suspected of involvement in shooting attacks against Israelis, the military said. It added that until recently, Birkawi was sheltered in Arafat's office compound.
Interviewed in Gaza by Israel TV's Channel 10, Abbas repeated his denunciation of the recent suicide attacks claimed by Muslim militants. "They sabotage the process the same as Israeli occupation sabotages the process," he said. "The whole situation is tragic, the attacks in Israel and the destruction on our side."
President Bush (news - web sites) telephoned Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) on Tuesday. It was Bush's first talk with Abbas and came on the same day Sharon was to have met with Bush in Washington.
Sharon, who called off the trip because of the bombings, told Bush he would meet soon with Abbas to discuss ways to improve security, adding, "it's clear that the Palestinians need to begin seriously fighting terrorism in order to move forward," according to a statement from Sharon's office.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush "stressed the need for all parties to take concrete steps" to stop violence and resume peace talks.
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