Arafat speech shows nothing has changed
By Herb Keinon
JERUSALEM (December 19) - Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's fiery address in Ramallah yesterday, during which he said he is willing to sacrifice 70 martyrs for one dead Israeli, proves that "nothing has changed," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman Ra'anan Gissin said.
"The Jordan River is the same, and Arafat is the same; he has not changed," Gissin said. "Today's speech is just more proof."
The address to a group of Palestinians from east Jerusalem stood in stark contradiction to his speech on Sunday, when he called for an end to suicide bombings and for a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.
According to a report last night on Channel 2, Arafat said the Palestinians will continue to fight for their land.
"What is that speech, if not incitement," Gissin said. "If he is going to stop the violence, that is not the way to do it. The way to do it is to say, 'Lay down your weapons.' "
Arafat adviser Bassam Abu Sharif said that Arafat's comment was taken out of context, either to purposely manipulate public opinion or by someone who misunderstood the Arabic.
"Whoever translated it, translated it wrong," Abu Sharif said.
He said Arafat was responding to a question about his cease-fire order despite continuing Israeli attacks. According to Abu Sharif, Arafat said if Sharon continues the attacks despite our opposition, it means that he doesn't want negotiations and he doesn't want peace. Then, Arafat added, the Palestinians will always defend themselves and will never capitulate.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who feels Israel must dangle a diplomatic option in front of Arafat alongside the military and international pressure being used, is expected to discuss a diplomatic plan at a meeting with Sharon today, Foreign Ministry officials said.
The content of the plan was not made public, but Peres has been speaking of the possibility of a Palestinian state being set up in Gaza and the areas in the West Bank now under Arafat's control, with the issues of Jerusalem and refugees left for later deliberations.
One Foreign Ministry official said it is necessary to hold out some diplomatic hope for Arafat to get him to really clamp down on the violence. According to this school of thought, Arafat will not risk a civil war with Hamas and Islamic Jihad if he does not know that there is a diplomatic option awaiting him.
Peres is also expected to report to Sharon on contacts that have been continuing non-stop with senior PA officials, including Ahmed Qurei, Muhammad Dahlan, and Jabril Rajoub. These contacts, with Sharon's knowledge, have continued even after the security cabinet's decision to declare Arafat irrelevant.
"The decision related to Arafat," the source said, "not everyone in the PA."
According to the source, although Europe and the US have relayed to Israel that they continue to view Arafat as the Palestinian leader, and even though French President Jacques Chirac told Sharon that Israel should give Arafat a chance to translate Sunday's speech into action, Israel has not come under a great deal of pressure to restrain itself militarily.
Nevertheless, the widespread military action that took place following the terror attack near Emmanuel last Wednesday night came to an abrupt end Sunday. This, according to one cabinet minister, was a tactical decision made by the IDF and was not connected to Arafat's speech.
Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior warned that the support and understanding Israel has enjoyed in Europe is temporary and is already eroding as a result of the weekend's military operations, which were widely covered in the European media.
European support peaked at last week's meeting of EU foreign ministers, which issued a declaration calling on the PA to put an end to the "armed intifada" and dismantle the Islamic Jihad and Hamas terror networks. This declaration, Melchior said, was unprecedented.
A few days later, at the Laeken summit of EU heads of state, a similar declaration was issued, but was tempered by a call for Israel to continue treating Arafat as a negotiating partner. This call came after the government's declaration that Arafat has ceased to be relevant and that it would sever ties with him.
Melchior, who spent the weekend in Copenhagen and last week in Berlin, said that anyone who thinks "that we have won unlimited credit for the long term" in Europe to deal with terror is mistaken.
This credit, he said, will only last as long as Arafat does not carry out what is expected of him and as long as Israel's policy is considered "reasonable." Melchior said that the declaration of Arafat as irrelevant was perceived in Europe as "extremist" and meant for internal domestic consumption.
Regarding Denmark, Melchior said the elections last month that ousted prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and foreign minister Mogen Lykketoft has ushered in a new government with a balanced policy. Lykketoft was considered hostile, and the appointment of Per Stig Moeller as foreign minister has already brought about a drastic changed in Denmark's Middle East policy.
jpost.com
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