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Arafat rules out compromise, says he cannot betray his people |
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September 9, 2000
UNITED NATIONS, SEPT 8 (AP) - Yasser Arafat seems very much concerned with his place in history these days. The 71-year-old former guerrilla chief, who has led the Palestinians through four turbulent decades, from exile and conflict to the brink of statehood, was faced with perhaps the most difficult decision of his political life during this week's Mideast consultations on the sidelines of the U.N. Millennium Summit. Insistence on full control over all of east Jerusalem, including major Islamic shrines, might cost him the state he has fought for so long. Compromise could earn him the label of traitor in much of the Arab and Muslim world. Arafat made it clear Thursday that despite strong pressure from U.S. President Bill Clinton himself, he would not budge on Jerusalem. "You have to remember, you are speaking to Yasser Arafat," the Palestinian leader, wearing his trademark military-style olive green pants and jacket, admonished a CNN interviewer Thursday when asked if he would compromise. "I will continue to liberate all the Islamic and Muslim holy places," Arafat said with growing agitation, his voice rising. "If not, another one will come to liberate them," he told the network. Arafat said he simply did not have a mandate to relinquish Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem's walled Old City, or share sovereignty there with Israel. "I can't betray my people. I can't betray the Arabs. I can't betray the Christians. I can't betray the Muslims," Arafat said adamantly. Some of the bluster might be tactical. Arafat is a skilled, experienced negotiator, who has logged long hours with Israeli prime ministers and is known to sometimes uses theatrics to confuse an opponent. The Palestinian leader said Thursday that negotiations would continue, and that he hoped talks would focus not only on Jerusalem, but on other key issues, such as the future borders of a Palestinian state. He said he paid little heed to being publicly blamed by the United States for the deadlock in the negotiations. "This is not on my mind. It is part of the mass media propaganda," he said. "As I have mentioned, I have respect for President Clinton, for what he is doing."
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