Arafat Grim In Describing Talks As Stalled
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat warned Thursday that four days of negotiations regarding the Israeli pullout from Hebron on the West Bank had achieved nothing so far, and that therefore the Palestinians should be prepared “to confront all possibilities.”
Arafat did not elaborate on the point in his somber speech to the Palestinian Legislative Council. But after the outbreak of violence last month and the subsequent Israeli military blockade of Palestinian areas, it was evident that he was warning of further travails and perhaps violence.
“The Erez negotiations have achieved nothing up till now,” Arafat said in his address. “As a consequence, we must be ready in every way to confront all possibilities. You must understand what I mean by this.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not respond to Arafat’s words, but a senior Israeli official said: “It is my hope that Mr. Arafat moves away from the language of incitement to a readiness to move forward in the negotiations. We’re still hopeful of the latter.”
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, denied that the talks were stalled. He noted that the negotiators had agreed to move their deliberations next week to the southern Israeli resort of Eilat and the nearby Egyptian resort of Taba, where they would be more isolated.
Arafat, speaking later to representatives of countries that have donated money to the Palestinian Authority, appealed for more financial help, saying, “If you can’t give us grants, give us loans.” He said the money was needed to offset what he called the economic “tragedy” created by the Israeli restrictions on movement between Palestinian towns and cities imposed after the violence two weeks ago.
He said such “sieges” had not even been imposed in times of war. “I must remind our overlapping neighbors,” he said, using a term he has increasingly employed for Israel, “if we are facing starvation, how can they have security?”
At the same time, he insisted that the Palestinians were not afraid of Israeli tanks and would not “grovel” before them.
Several hours after Arafat spoke Thursday, Israel announced that as of Sunday it would lift the restrictions on the movement of Palestinians.