BEITUNIYA, West Bank, Feb. 21 -- On the Palestinian side of an Israeli army checkpoint here Monday, Nazka Abu Sharife paced back and forth awaiting the arrival of Mourad, her 23-year-old son, who had not been home in almost four years.
At 11:24 a.m., four white vans pulled up to the heavily patrolled fence and crossing, each with about 10 men aboard. Horns honked, flags waved and a cheering, tearful crowd surged forward, each person straining to catch the first glimpse of the husband, father, brother or son being released after serving time in an Israeli prison.
A Palestinian prisoner waves a traditional Arab headdress from an Israeli bus on the way to his release at a checkpoint outside Tulkarm, in the West Bank.
(Nasser Ishtayeh -- AP)
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There was no sign of Mourad. Abu Sharife, 50, clutched the ends of the blue scarf draped over her head, looking bewildered and a bit alarmed.
Windows flew open, and babies were thrust into eager arms and smothered with kisses. The men were handed Palestinian flags and made triumphant victory gestures. The vans were not allowed to stop at the border because of Israeli security concerns, so instead they were driven in an impromptu procession to nearby Ramallah and the tomb of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, where celebratory machine-gun fire greeted the growing crowd.
Outside Arafat's tomb, Abu Sharife, close to panic, looked in vain, studying every figure, every face. Finally, she spotted her son, and the two were reunited in a moment of hugs and kisses and tears.
It was a scene played out hundreds of times Monday during the largest Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners in nine years, fulfilling a key promise made by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas two weeks ago at a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Both sides have expressed hope that Monday's release of 500 Palestinian prisoners -- all of whom signed a pledge stating that they "opposed terror" and would not commit "any activity against the state of Israel" -- will contribute to a rapprochement that could end the four-year Palestinian uprising and revive the long-dormant peace process.
The Palestinian government also fulfilled a promise Monday, one made to its own people and one that many said fell short of expectations. Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia proposed a new cabinet, but with many old faces, prompting complaints that a younger generation of Palestinian leaders was being held back.
But the internal political wrangling could not overshadow reunions that for many had been years in coming. Israel is holding about 7,600 Palestinian prisoners, including many under 18 and many who have never been charged, and their release is one of the most emotional issues dividing the two sides. Abbas has placed it at the top of his agenda in negotiations with Israel, and political analysts say winning large prisoner releases would boost his popularity with the public and help persuade Palestinians that negotiations achieve more than violence does.
Israel has promised to free another 400 prisoners within the next three months, and a joint Israeli-Palestinian commission has been set up to study future releases.
"These people are in prison because they're brave," said Abu Sharife, who lives in the Jalazoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah. "My son was imprisoned for his homeland, because he wants an independent state, so we can be in peace and don't have to live in fear all the time.
"I'm happy my son is being released, but my happiness is not complete," she said. "They should free all the prisoners, since all of them are our sons and brothers."
"These steps are small and not sufficient," Nafez Azzam, a spokesman for the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said in a telephone interview from Gaza. "When the Palestinian side announced a cease-fire, we expected something substantial in return that will be felt on the ground."
Still, Azzam said, "even when one prisoner is released, we are happy." He said his group remained committed to "the quiet," as they call the de facto truce.
Abu Sharife said she had been allowed to see her son only three times since he was arrested on July 18, 2001, and sentenced to six years in jail for acts of resistance.
According to information posted by the Israeli army on a prisoner Web site, Mourad Abu Sharife was charged with throwing six "burning objects" and with membership in an illegal organization, the Arab Liberation Front, a small, Iraqi-backed group in the Palestine Liberation Organization.
"I was in prison, but some are martyrs and some have their houses destroyed," Mourad Abu Sharife said as he hugged his mother. "Everybody has to pay the price for the occupation and the struggle."
Earlier in the day, the Fatah political movement of Abbas and Qureia approved the cabinet changes in a raucous session that underscored the demands of the younger leaders that the government and party be purged of Arafat cronies and others tainted by corruption. Fatah approved placing several Abbas allies and other newcomers in key posts: Maj. Gen. Nasser Yusef was named interior minister and a former internal security chief for Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, was made minister for cabinet affairs. Both men strongly favor reform of the Palestinian security services and had often stormy relations with Arafat, who died three months ago.
Arafat's nephew, Nasser Kidwa, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, was named the new foreign minister, while the outgoing foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, was made deputy prime minister -- a move widely seen as a promotion in title only. Nabil Amr, whose leg was amputated after he was shot in the leg outside his home in Ramallah last year after criticizing Arafat on television, was named information minister.
Researcher Samuel Sockol contributed to this report.
