RAMALLAH, West Bank - Marking 40 years of Israeli occupation, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday warned that his people are on the verge of civil war and said infighting is worse than living under Israeli military rule.
Israel's capture of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War was a "black day" for the Palestinians, who paid a heavy price for defeat, Abbas said in a televised speech on the anniversary of the June 5, 1967, start of hostilities that lasted six days and changed the face of the region.
In the Palestinian territories, the mood was somber Tuesday, with many echoing Abbas' concern about the internal bloodshed. Others said they didn't expect an end anytime soon to the military rule that permeates every aspect of daily life in the Palestinian territories.
"I never expected to mark 40 years of occupation. It's painful, it catastrophic," said Omar Jalad, a 55-year-old accordion player from the West Bank city of Ramallah.
In Israel, the anniversary underscored the divisions over whether the war was a blessing or a curse.....
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