Arafat To Announce Ceasefire Initiative And Arab Representatives Refer To UN General Assembly

     Al-Hayat      2003/09/18

The Palestinian Authority held the U.S. responsible for any harm that could be caused to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, after the Americans used its veto at the Security Council to oppose the draft resolution that called for protecting President Arafat from Israel's threats to kill or expel him. In parallel, Arafat seemed defiant regarding this decision, and even called it a "new Sykes-Picot" that would not affect Palestinians. This all came on the eve of the expanded meeting to be held by the various bodies of Fatah, the main Palestinian Authority organization, set up to finalize the list of candidates for the government of Ahmad Qureih. The government's appointment will probably be delayed because of the U.S. veto, amidst fears that Israel and the U.S. are considering it or any other Palestinian government as a substitute ready to take over power in case Israel carries out its decision to "eliminate" Arafat. A high-ranking Palestinian official announced yesterday that President Arafat will soon make a speech in which he announces a ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis.   

President Arafat defied the U.S. veto regarding the threat to harm or expel him, saying: "it's not a decision here or there that will affect us…. We are stronger than all decisions." Addressing a crowd of Palestinian intellectuals and artists who visited him to express their support, he added that the U.S. decision is a "new Sykes-Picot agreement."

An Important Speech

A Palestinian official told Al-Hayat that Arafat is about to give "an important speech," in which he will declare a ceasefire agreement between Palestinians and Israelis that would prohibit targeting civilians on both sides "whoever they are," and in which he will assert the Palestinian Authority's  commitment to the Roadmap, to move towards the creation of a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, and based on a just solution for the Palestinian refugees.

Palestinians were shocked by the U.S. veto, and resigning Minister of Cabinet Affairs Yasser Abed Rabbo said the U.S. veto will "weaken all the efforts deployed to form a Palestinian government, and added that if this government is going to adopt a moderate stance, then the question will be raised as to whether the U.S. will lend its support and efforts in that direction."

There is a growing feeling among Palestinians that Israel will take the opportunity given by the U.S. veto to "eliminate" President Arafat, either in response to a large-scale suicide attack or if it considers that the pressure on Arafat will not push him to accept the Israeli conditions he had been refusing in the past.

Several Palestinian parties, namely Fatah, are trying to reign in the reactions of the resistance groups, to convince them not to carry out any such operations. They are also deploying efforts to reach a ceasefire that would be achieved by expanding the representation in Ahmad Qureih's government to include all Palestinian organizations.

Palestinian sources informed Al-Hayat that Qureih has been contacting the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which gave its consent in principle to participate in the government, while negotiations are ongoing to include Hamas in the government, even in the form of independent candidates.

Fatah sources expressed their concern about the delayed formation of a government, which was supposed to be ratified Saturday by the Legislative Council, saying: "this decision (the U.S. veto) could have dangerous consequences on the new government."

Al-Hayat was told that a number of Fatah candidates who will be appointed ministers in Qureih's government are from the "young generation," such as Fares Qaddura, Mohamad Hurani, Ahmad Al Saghir and Ahmad Ghanem.

Sources asserted that the Fatah bodies are appointing at least 15 candidates for the incoming government, three of whom are from the Central Committee and the rest from the other bodies, while the other eight ministries will be given to representatives of various Palestinian factions and independent candidates.

Refusing the truce

In parallel, Israel, encouraged by the U.S. veto, announced its official refusal to the Palestinian ceasefire proposal presented by National Security Affairs advisor Jibril Rajoub.

In New York, the Arab representatives at the UN decided yesterday to call for an urgent session of the UN General Assembly, in light of the Security Council's failure to pass the draft resolution, as a result of the U.S. veto.

According to the draft resolution, which will be presented to the General Assembly, the Assembly "reiterates its concern from the violent and dangerous incidents that have happened across all Palestinian occupied territories and in Israel since September 2000, and from the dangerous deterioration of the situation, including the illegal assassinations and the suicide attacks, which all caused great suffering and many innocent victims.