Ashrawi's website, MIFTAH, contains an article attacking Amnesty International for condemning the killing of collaborators. The article by Paul Rooij excuses these killings because collaborators are "criminals" but they are still entitled under international law to fair trial and protection from torture. **********************************************************************
Palestinians execute two suspected collaborators October 24, 2003
Gunmen executed two Palestinians in public in a West Bank refugee camp yesterday after the men confessed to collaborating with Israeli intelligence, witnesses said.
They said members of militant factions waging an uprising for Palestinian independence played a videotape of the confessions to residents of the Tulkarm camp before shooting dead the suspects, aged 21 and 25, in the street.
Palestinians have killed scores of their brethren accused of helping Israeli forces track and kill militants during fighting that erupted in September 2000. The latest cycle of tit-for-tat violence has stalled a US-backed "road map" to peace.
Human rights groups have condemned the vigilante killings.
In the West Bank city of Nablus, medical officials said a 15-year-old activist from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, died of wounds sustained in a mysterious car explosion last night.
Palestinian security officials said the blast, which wounded two other people, may have been caused when a bomb manufactured by militants detonated prematurely.
But the officials did not rule out sabotage by Israeli intelligence. Israeli military sources denied responsibility.
In the West Bank city of Hebron overnight, Israeli forces demolished the home of a gunman from the Islamic militant group Hamas who wounded two Jewish settlers before being shot dead Wednesday, the army said.
Palestinians and human rights groups condemn house demolitions as a form of collective punishment. Israel says the reprisals deter future attacks.
