Palestinians Close Ranks Behind Arafat
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday December 15, 2001
Palestinian officials declared their support for the PLO leader Yasser Arafat, saying Israel will have to lift its ban against him or risk losing any opportunity to promote peace in the region.
The move came as Mr Arafat, whose headquarters in the West Bank were surrounded by Israeli tanks, also received recognition from the United States that he is the representative of the Palestinian people.
``Calling Arafat irrelevant is irrelevant, since he is the elected leader by the Palestinian people," said the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Mr Ahmed Qeri'a.
``There is no choice. If the Israelis really want peace, they must deal with him." These sentiments were echoed by the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, despite his insistence that Mr Arafat had to rein in Palestinian militants who have carried out a wave of suicide bombings and other attacks.
``Yasser Arafat is the elected head of the Palestinian Authority and reflects the leadership that the Palestinians wish to have," he said. ``So he still has that authority, that mantle of leadership given to him by the Palestinian people and we will continue to work with him."
His comments came as Israeli troops killed a man wanted by Israel, and three members of the Palestinian security forces in a raid in the West Bank yesterday, Palestinian security sources said.
Israeli tanks and troops also reoccupied parts of the main Palestinian city of Ramallah in the West Bank and a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Tanks yesterday were parked within 100 metres of Mr Arafat's Ramallah headquarters.
Earlier, Israeli missiles also hit the Voice of Palestine radio transmitter, knocking the station off the air. While helicopters and warplanes launched wave after wave of strikes against Palestinian targets in retaliation for a bus bombing in the West Bank that killed 10 Israelis.
In the midst of the deepening crisis, the US Administration said it would press on with peace efforts. The Middle-East envoy Anthony Zinni was yesterday poised to announce America's latest proposals for promoting a ceasefire to end more than 14 months of fighting.
However, the Israeli Defence Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, insisted that his government would only negotiate with officials in the Palestinian Authority other than Mr Arafat.
``Yasser Arafat really isn't relevant anymore," Mr Ben-Eliezer said. ``He has not changed his position on violence and terror. We will talk with other people. One can assume that people will rise from within the Palestinian leadership who will be willing to discuss the issues dividing us. I hope a dynamic of discourse develops."
An adviser to Mr Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudeinah, accused the Israeli Government of declaring war on the Palestinian people.
He said the decision to sever ties with Mr Arafat would lead the region into ``more escalation, instability and violence".
Speaking from his home in Ramallah, as four Israeli tanks rumbled down the street, Palestinian analyst Ghassan Khatib called the Israeli decision a sign of ``political bankruptcy".
``I think Israel by this step is moving in the wrong direction," he said.
``Without addressing the political causes of the current violence, which is the occupation, and without negotiating an exchange of a complete ending of occupation on one hand and complete and comprehensive peace and security on the other hand, there is no way out."
A Moses in his mind, Arafat fades into history Page 18
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald