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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (24528)	4/11/2002 9:32:27 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Arafat's Palestinian Authority is in shambles, but he emerges more popular than ever By Susan Sevareid, Associated Press, 4/11/2002 09:12 JERUSALEM (AP) Yasser Arafat, penned inside his shell-shattered headquarters and presiding over a Palestinian Authority in shambles, is fast becoming the hero he hasn't been since returning from exile in 1994. Israel's 2-week-old military campaign to crush the Palestinian militants behind deadly attacks on Israeli civilians seems to have only elevated Arafat's status at home and in the Arab world. In his besieged compound, Arafat has received supporters and granted interviews by mobile phone. With little left to lose and riding high on European and U.N. condemnation of Israel, Arafat might use helplessness to his advantage when Secretary of State Colin Powell visits to try to secure a cease-fire. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has made clear he does not consider Arafat a partner in future peacemaking but Washington appears to differ, and no one has a clear idea who other than Arafat could fill the vacuum once Israel withdraws its troops from West Bank cities. New video footage showed Arafat during recent meetings in his compound: smiling warmly and kissing foreign peace activists who defied Israeli soldiers to join him, looking serious in last Friday's talks with U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni. Arafat's pistol was visible at his waist as he met with aides in the past few days. The footage showed bullet holes marring a wall in Arafat's Cabinet room, where ceiling panels and molding were knocked loose; a door and metal cabinet blocked a curtainless window. His aides showed signs of strain, with Nabil Abu Rdeneh's usually clean-shaven face grizzled and weary. Palestinians, who long have complained of apathy toward their plight in the Arab world, are seeing enormous outpourings of support. From Baghdad to Cairo, photographs and portraits of Arafat are held aloft by thousands of demonstrators shouting their willingness to die for the Palestinian leader. ''Arafat is the hero. He's a saint, he's a prophet now. No one can accuse him of being a traitor, so he is in a very strong position,'' said Palestinian analyst Salah Abdel Shafi. ''The man was under attack. He was isolated and he didn't surrender.'' Arafat, who fled the West Bank in 1967 and spent nearly three decades in exile, has not always been so popular. After he took the helm of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, there had been grumbling among Palestinians about widespread government corruption. Arafat himself was widely seen as an honest leader, but was accused of allowing his senior aides to mismanage public funds. The Palestinians had also been disappointed by Arafat's stop-and-go peace negotiations with the Israelis that were to have brought them an independent state in 1999. Though the White House has made clear it isn't satisfied with Arafat's efforts to curb violence, it repeatedly has demanded Israel's immediate withdrawal from Palestinian cities in recent days. Powell, who arrives Thursday in Jerusalem, said he intends to meet with Arafat a decision Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called a ''tragic mistake.'' During a stop in Madrid, Spain, Powell also said Wednesday that he will look into securing Arafat better conditions of confinement more space and more access to allow him to communicate with other leaders. Beyond seeking a swift end to the violence, Powell is pressing for accelerated negotiations to establish a Palestinian state. He has said Arafat is the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people and key to securing a truce. If the world ignores Israel's skepticism and looks to Arafat to rebuild his security institutions, his position could in a way be stronger than it was before Israel's incursions: Because his forces have clearly been battered, Arafat could more credibly claim that he cannot effectively take on the militants. Even if Arafat issues a cease-fire call in Arabic, as America seeks, he may no longer have policemen, jails or courthouses to deal with those who violate it. Jails and courthouses have been flattened in the past two weeks and many Palestinian police officers killed and arrested. The compound of Jibril Rajoub the West Bank security chief who once cooperated with Israel on security and had largely had kept his men out of the past 18 months of violence came under siege. When the gunmen and others in Rajoub's compound surrendered to Israelis outside, he was vilified by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which suggested he stand trial for the surrender of his men and militants in their custody and be executed if convicted. Rajoub, who once appeared able to get some degree of cooperation from Islamic militants during troubled times of the past, would have been the man to enforce any cease-fire. Now, Abdel Shafi said, Arafat can tell Powell that the only way he can rebuild and take control over matters is if he gets a total Israeli withdrawal and the prospect of a viable Palestinian state. ''If Arafat gets this and sees there will be a mechanism to reach this, not just empty talk he will go public, speak in Arabic and say we can stop this because we are getting the state,'' he said. While Sharon has accepted the principle of Palestinian statehood, he appears prepared to offer the Palestinians far less territory than what they demand.

To: Ilaine who wrote (24528)	4/11/2002 9:41:21 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

CB, I just wonder how you get is ALL WRONG Powell caved in to arab terrorism and the hatred of Jews by Europeans that is so obvious. Jewish Synagogues and Jewish institution are bombed and burning from Europe to North Africa ...... any difference between now and Europe 60 to 70 years ago? My mother remembers those times vividly!!! It is to sad that so few in the US even understand the mainstream arab mentality and their goals. Saudi Arabia cost of extracting oil is below $2 to $3 FOB, but it sells it in world markets around $22 to $25. Saudi Arabia had no problem rising the price of oil above $30 and plunge the world in a worldwide recession only 1.5 to 2 years ago!!! How many US citizen lost their jobs because of that? Saudi Arabia contributes only $7 million to UNWRA the UN entity overseeing the arab refugies at a time that the US is contributing $125 and Europe $250 million or so - (source CNN) On the other hand Saudi Arabia and it's citizen contributed hundred of millions to Al Queda who aimed to the destruction the US and is contributing $50 million to arab families whose members kill Israeli civilians including the families of Suicide murderers ...... (Saudi Arabia sets aside $50M for 'martyrs' upi.com ) ........need any more comments? CB - no need to respond thank you