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"US embassy from Telaviv to Jerusalem": Clinton |
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July 30, 2000
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - In an illustration of the centuries-old rivalry over Jerusalem that derailed Camp David peace talks, Muslim custodians of one of the city's sacred sites locked an entrance used mostly by tourists and Jewish worshippers for several hours Saturday. Also Saturday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat left in search of foreign support in his peace negotiations with the Israelis, a day after the United States made its support for Israel clear. In Jerusalem's Old City, officials of the Wakf, the Muslim religious council that administers the Temple Mount, said they closed a gate because Jewish extremists tried to bring Israeli flags into the complex's Al-Aqsa mosque on Thursday. However, after receiving assurances from the Jerusalem police that they would prevent any suspicious people from entering the area, Waqf officials said they agreed to reopen the gate. "I hope this is the end of the problem," said Wakf director Adnan Husseini. Earlier Saturday when Moshe Elizathen, a Jew, arrived to find the gate closed, he said it was Muslims who were creating tension by denying Jews "the right to pray." "I will tell you also that all Jerusalem and all the Old City and the Temple Mount are Israeli, and Jerusalem will remain the united capital of Israel," Elizathen said. Israel has long insisted that Jerusalem remain united under exclusive Israeli sovereignty. But at the U.S.-mediated Camp David summit, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak reportedly offered the Palestinians control of Arab neighborhoods just inside Jerusalem, a vaguely defined "special regime" in the Muslim and Christian quarters of the walled Old City, administrative autonomy over Jerusalem's Muslim holy places and unhindered access to Al-Aqsa. Palestinian negotiators rejected anything short of sovereignty over east Jerusalem as their national capital. East Jerusalem's Temple Mount was calm Saturday during the closing, with few tourists or worshippers in the area. Israeli police officers were stationed at the gates and Wakf security guards were inside the mosque area. Only those identifying themselves to police as Muslims coming to pray were allowed in. Swiss tourist Kathy Stranmann said she was disappointed to be barred. "East Jerusalem is a symbol for the Arabs, and a religious place for the Jews," she said. "If they share control, I think that is the solution." Al-Aqsa is located on the site of the second Jewish Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. The hill on which it stands overlooks the Western Wall, the holiest site to Jews and the last remnant of the Second Temple compound. Dozens were killed in Israeli-Palestinian clashes in the area in 1990 and 1996. Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount to pray, but only silently and in small groups. Arafat, who returned from Camp David to be greeted as a hero for insisting on sovereignty over Jerusalem, waded through a crowd of cheering, flag-waving Palestinian children outside his Gaza City office Saturday. He stood on the hood of his car for a few moments flashing a victory sign, then drove to the airport for a 48-hour trip Palestinian officials said would take him to France and Saudi Arabia. At the airport, Arafat told reporters he was going to put the Palestinians' case to the world to counter "Israeli propaganda." Before taking off, he met briefly with U.S. diplomats who handed him a letter from U.S. President Bill Clinton. Tayib Abdel Rahim, an Arafat aide, said Clinton pledged to continue to work for a Palestinian solution. In an Israeli television interview broadcast Friday, Clinton said Barak made significant steps toward an agreement at Camp David. Clinton said Arafat did not go as far at the summit, which deadlocked on Tuesday. Clinton said he planned to help Israel bolster its security forces and was considering moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The U.S. president also hinted the United States would punish the Palestinians if they made a unilateral declaration of statehood, as they have said they would do on Sept. 13 if a settlement is not reached before then. About 100 Palestinian students protested at An Najah University in the West Bank town of Nablus Saturday. They burned Israeli flags and posters of Barak and listened to speakers condemning Clinton's comments. Later Saturday some 300 Arafat loyalists marched through downtown Nablus chanting "Jerusalem is ours." They march was led by a group of masked young men armed with M-16 guns and Kalashnikov rifles who burned a poster of Clinton labeled "Hypocrite Zionist" as well as a poster of Barak. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators were to resume interim peace talks Sunday in Jerusalem. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat left Saturday in search of foreign support in his peace negotiations with the Israelis, a day after the United States made its support for Israel clear. Arafat waded through a crowd of cheering, flag-waving Palestinian children outside his Gaza City office, stood on the hood of his car for a few moments flashing a victory sign, then drove to the airport for a 48-hour trip Palestinian officials said would take him to France and Saudi Arabia. At the airport, Palestinian officials said Arafat met briefly with the U.S. consul general in Jerusalem, John Herbst, who handed him a letter from U.S. President Bill Clinton. The contents of the letter were not immediately available. In an Israeli television interview broadcast Friday, Clinton said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak had made significant steps toward an agreement at the Camp David summit with Arafat. Clinton said Arafat did not go as far at the summit, which deadlocked on Tuesday largely on the question of the status of Jerusalem. Clinton said he planned to help Israel bolster its security forces and was considering redeeming an eight-year-old promise to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The U.S. president also said it would be a "big mistake" for Arafat to declare a Palestinian state unless such a step was called for as part of a comprehensive settlement with Israel. He hinted the United States would punish the Palestinians if they made a unilateral declaration, as they have said they would do on Sept. 13 if a settlement is not reached before then. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators were to resume peace talks Sunday in Jerusalem. In France, Arafat was likely to repeat calls for more European meditation to counter what is seen as U.S. bias toward Israel. France assumed the six-month rotating European Union presidency this month. In Saudi Arabia, he will meet Arab leaders who have pushed for a firm stand in favor of the Palestinians' claims on Jerusalem, a city holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews. Israel has long insisted that Jerusalem remain united under exclusive Israeli sovereignty. But at Camp David, Barak reportedly offered the Palestinians control of certain Arab neighborhoods just inside Jerusalem, a vaguely defined "special regime" in the Muslim and Christian quarters of Jerusalem's walled Old City, administrative autonomy over Jerusalem's Muslim holy places and unhindered access to the Al-Aqsa mosque. Palestinian negotiators rejected anything short of sovereignty over east Jerusalem as their national capital. |
