News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Israel has no cause to celebrate because Arabs "are groaning" under the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad charged Tuesday in a speech to legislators and foreign envoys. He accused Jewish "settlers" of "crimes" and termed the Jewish presence a siege.

Fayyad, who is heavily supported by the Bush administration that helped put him in power, was unusually harsh in his criticism of Israel. He made the remarks in a speech marking the "nakba," Arabic for "catastrophe," the word used by Arabs to term Israel's Independence Day.