Arafat Hints at Armed Conflict
Sunday, 15 November 1998
J E R U S A L E M (AP)
PALESTINIAN LEADER Yasser Arafat on Sunday hinted at armed conflict
with Israel, warning darkly that "our rifle is ready," and repeating that he
will declare statehood next year.
A senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said
Arafat's comments were a "declaration of war on the peace process."
David Bar-Illan told The Associated Press that Netanyahu "views such
statements with the utmost severity," and would bring them up when his
Cabinet meets later this week.
The escalation of rhetoric came as U.S. envoy Dennis Ross sought to
jump-start the latest Mideast peace accord.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Israel has
asked the United States, which mediated the recent peace agreement, to
condemn Arafat's comments.
And in comments certain to heighten tension, Foreign Minister Ariel
Sharon called on Jewish settlers Sunday to grab West Bank hilltops before
the sides reach a permanent territorial agreement.
"Everyone there should move, should run, should grab more hills, expand
the territory. Everything that's grabbed, will be in our hands, everything that
we don't grab, will be in their hands," Sharon said at a meeting with
members of the right-wing Tsomet party, a coalition partner in Netanyahu's
government. His comments were broadcast on Israel radio.
The United States has called on Israel to refrain from building in
settlements or changing the current status of the West Bank and the latest
peace accord says both sides will not carry out unilateral actions.
Bar-Illan said Sharon's comments didn't conflict with the accord because
Sharon was referring to hilltops which neighbor Jewish settlements that
Israel already considers part of existing settlements.
Settlers have begun placing trailer homes on several hilltops adjacent to
settlements to stake their claims, but Sharon's comments were the first
indication those actions have government approval.
In the West Bank, a Jewish settler was slightly injured in a drive-by
shooting close to Palestinian-held territory. Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for
Israel's liaison unit to the Palestinians, blamed the shooting on Palestinian
militants bent on derailing the peace process.
"There are some Palestinians there who want to stop this process," Dror
told The Associated Press.
Soldiers also clashed with a group of Palestinians who tried to prevent a
bulldozer from beginning work on a bypass road for Jewish settlers. The
road will require the confiscation of 40 acres of Arab land in al-Khader,
near Bethlehem.
About 30 soldiers beat back 20 protesters, who responded with a hail of
stones. Soldiers shot rubber bullets and tear gas canisters into the crowd.
Two Palestinians were treated for tear gas inhalation, including Palestinian
lawmaker Salah Tamari, and one Israeli soldier was injured.
Ross met with Israeli officials and with negotiators from both sides.
Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
three-way meeting produced a loose timetable for implementation this
week.
Committees dealing with economics, a Palestinian safe passage route and
seaport are to begin meeting Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, the
sides open critical final status talks. Thursday, the Palestinians will be
shown Israel's withdrawal maps and by the end of Friday, Israel will have
pulled its troops from an initial 2 percent of land.
Earlier, Ross urged moving Sunday's public debate off the airwaves and to
the negotiating table.
"One thing that is key: It is always better for the two sides to talk to each
other instead of at each other," Ross told reporters after meeting with
Sharon.
The deal calls for Israel to withdraw from an additional 13 percent of the
West Bank in exchange for stepped-up Palestinian security measures.
Sharon said Arafat's comments made it "difficult to conduct negotiations"
and reiterated that Israel would annex the areas of the West Bank it holds
if Arafat declares a Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials indicated Arafat's strong language came in response to
Israeli annexation threats and as a result of the delay in implementing the
withdrawal agreement. The first pullback had been slated for Monday, but
Israel said it would be delayed for several days.
Speaking to members of his Fatah faction in the West Bank town of
Ramallah, Arafat said: "Our rifle is ready, and we are ready to use it if they
try to delay us from praying at al-Aqsa," the holiest mosque in Jerusalem.
Defying Israel and the United States, which have urged him to drop the
demand, Arafat said, "We will declare our state on the 4th of May next
year. This is our right."
Netanyahu countered that Arafat's comments cast a "very dark shadow"
over the peace process.
Speaking in a radio address broadcast Sunday, Arafat sought to allay
Israeli fears of an independent Palestinian state, saying it will be the "bridge
of love and peace."
In a 30-minute broadcast on the official Voice of Palestine, Arafat coupled
his appeal with a warning to Islamic militants and their supporters in the
Arab world that he would not tolerate interference.
"We are not going to allow anyone to attack our dream and to destroy our
Palestinian national project," he said, adding that terror attacks would only
provide Israel with an excuse to back out of the agreement to hand over
land.
Following attacks attributed to Islamic militants on an Israeli school bus
and a Jerusalem market, Netanyahu delayed the time table for
implementing the land-for-security accord.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley met on Sunday
with counterparts from Israel and Jordan and with the Palestinians and
encouraged the three to increase trade between their areas.
In a statement, Sharon called on Jordan to implement a planned free-trade
zone between the two countries and urged Jordanian business leaders to
visit Israel.
Daley, who is on a two-day visit to Israel, also met with Netanyahu on
Sunday and with Israel's trade minister. He meets with Arafat on Monday
and will tour an Israeli-Palestinian industrial park in the Gaza Strip. |
