<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Palestinians in Libya &#8220;Unharmed&#8221; but Ready to Come Home as Qaddafi Looks Poised to&nbsp;Fall]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>22.02.11 &#8211; 11:30</p>
<p>Tripoli – PNN &#8211; As Colonel Muammar Qaddafi of Libya defiantly  delivered a televised speech saying he was “in Tripoli, not in  Venezuela” and the Libyan regime looked poised to collapse, Palestinian  Deputy Foreign Minister Tayseer Jaradat said that Palestinians in the  North African state were “unharmed and not in any danger.”</p>
<div class="mosimage" style="float:right;border-width:2px;"><img title="Image" src="https://i2.wp.com/english.pnn.ps/images/stories/2008/Libyaprotest01.jpg" border="0" alt="Image" hspace="6" width="314" height="221" /></p>
<div class="mosimage_caption" style="text-align:center;">A scene from the Libyan protests (PNN Archive).</div>
</div>
<p>In  a telephone call to Palestinian state-run news agency Wafa, Jaradat  said that the Foreign Ministry continued to be in contact with “our  family in Libya” and that the Palestinian embassy in Tripoli was still  serving students and the community. There are about 70,000 Palestinians  in Libya, most from the Gaza Strip.</p>
<p>However, Jaradat said the  embassy would soon begin the process of bringing Palestinian students  home from universities in Tripoli, Benghazi, and Misurata.</p>
<p>Hussein  Sheikh of the Palestinian Civil Affairs Directorate said they continued  to monitor the situation in Libya closely. He said the situation called  for “international pressure on Israel to allow Palestinians to come  home from Libya at once, even though most of them don’t carry  Palestinian IDs.”</p>
<p>The situation in Libya has devolved quickly over  the last few days, with Human Rights Watch reporting at hundreds dead  in various Libyan cities. Col. Qaddafi, who has ruled the country for 41  years, informally and without a title, appeared on state TV on early  Tuesday morning to say, “I want to show that I’m in Tripoli and not in  Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs.”</p>
<p>He  appeared to be leaning out a van outside his residence in Tripoli, but  the video was barely 22 seconds, rare for Qaddafi, who often rambles for  hours in televised appearances.</p>
<p>“I wanted to say something to  the youths at Green Square [in Tripoli] and stay up late with them but  it started raining,” he said, carrying an umbrella. “Thank God, it’s a  good thing.”</p>
<p>The Arab League promised hold an emergency meeting on  Libya, which has become bloodier than the Tunisian and Egyptian  revolutions in less than half the time. Protesters took to the streets  in Benghazi, Libya’s eastern second city, on February 17’s “Day of  Anger” and in the ensuing five days, at least 400 people have been  killed.</p>
<p>The UN Security Council said it will discuss the matter in  an emergency meeting on Tuesday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said  he was “outraged” at reports that Libyan state troops had been firing  from helicopters and war planes at unarmed civilians.</p>
<p>US Secretary  of State Hillary Clinton released a press statement saying, “We join  the international community in strongly condemning the violence in  Libya…The government of Libya has a responsibility to respect the  universal rights of the people, including the right to free expression  and assembly.”</p>
<p>For his part, however, Palestinian Presidential  Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the chaos in Libya was merely  “internal affairs” and he called on Palestinians in Libya “not to  interfere.”</p>
<p>“We wish the Libyan people stability and prosperity,” said Rudeineh.</p>
<p><a href="http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=9596&amp;Itemid=56">PNN &#8211; Palestine News Network &#8211; Palestinians in Libya &#8220;Unharmed&#8221; but Ready to Come Home as Qaddafi Looks Poised to Fall</a>.</p>
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