Arafat stands up to exile threats
Israeli President Yitzhak Rabin and leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation Yasser Arafat
shook hands in 1993 after signing the Oslo accords which granted limited self-government for the Gaza Strip.
Ten years on and the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s leadership appears imperilled and increasingly assailable.
He faces the threat of forced exile after Israel’s Security Cabinet on Thursday voiced its intention to “remove” Arafat.
Mr Arafat is perceived by Israel and Washington as a terrorist and the “absolute obstacle” to peace in the region.
“The events of recent days prove again that Yasser Arafat is the absolute obstacle to any process of conciliation between the Israeli and Palestinian people,” said a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office.
The United States, European Union and Russia have all warned Israel against the move.
The UN Security Council is keeping Arafat’s situation under “most active review.”
But yesterday Arafat told diplomats and his followers he had no plans to leave the West Bank.
Speaking from his confines in Ramallah, Mr Arafat lambasted Israel for trying “to eliminate the Palestinian partner and the president of the Palestinian Authority.”
Mr Arafat told his followers. “The daily Israeli aggression is offensive to our people, our villages, our refugee camps and holy sites which belong to Muslims and Christians.”
With the Oslo accords in mind, Mr Arafat said he remained committed to its broad principles and expressed the desire to see a “precise and immediate” implementation of the US-backed “road map” for peace in the Middle East.
“Our duty today, the duty of all of us is to continue the work that I started with my late partner Yitzhak Rabin, to protect the peace of the brave and to continue and complete that work,” Mr Arafat said.
Ra’anan Gissin, senior adviser to Ariel Sharon said: “No international organisation is defending Israel. No one except for Israel is defending Israel. We have no other choice. Arafat is the main obstacle to peace, and that’s why we’ve decided in principle to expel him.”
