GAZA
CITY, September 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Amid mounting
world criticism, the U.N. Security Council and the Arab League hold
separate meetings Monday, September 15, to address the Israeli
government decision to expel, or assassinate, Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat.
The
Security Council, which began Friday discussions on a resolution
condemning Israel, resumes meetings Monday to hear a report from U.N.
Mideast envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, followed by a debate open to all U.N.
members, reported the BBC News Online.
The
proposed draft demands Israel to "desist from any act of
deportation and to cease any threat to the safety of the elected
president of the Palestinian Authority".
U.N.
diplomatic sources described the language of the draft as moderate in
order to avoid an American veto.
The
Security Council has issued a unanimous statement asserted that
"the removal of Chairman Arafat would be unhelpful and should not
be implemented".
For
its part, the Cairo-based Arab League will hold a meeting Monday, at the
level of permanent delegates, to discuss Israeli threats against Arafat
following a Palestinian request for the meeting, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
The
pan-Arab organization Secretary General Amr Mussa phoned Arafat Sunday,
September 14, to reiterate his "complete solidarity and Arab League's
rejection of all Israeli attempts to expel him from occupied Palestinian
land."
"The
popular Palestinian and international reaction rejecting Israel's
reckless decision demonstrates the prestige enjoyed by the elected
Palestinian president, who alone can convince his people of the peace
option," Moussa said.
Within
the same context, the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) would take
up expulsion and assassination threats against Arafat in its meeting in
Malaysia next month, according to a Pakistani Foreign Ministry official.
Mastoid
Khan, Foreign Ministry spokesman said recent Israeli threats to Arafat
were condemnable and nobody can ignore such acts.
He
said Pakistan would do whatever it can to motivate international
concerns on this issue, adding that Muslim countries would take up the
issue of Israeli threats to Arafat in the next OIC meeting, to take
place in Kuala Lumpur next month.
More
Condemnations
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"The cabinet decision is not for immediate action," Shalom
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In
a related development, the African Union (AU) Monday voiced deep concern
over Israel's threat to expel Arafat.
"An
action against the legitimate and democratically elected leader of the
Palestinian people would be unwise and would not only threaten the peace
process, but would also escalate tension and violence in the occupied
territories and the region as a whole," said Amara Essy, the
outgoing chairman of the AU Commission, in a statement.
He
urged the Israeli government to rescind the decision to exile Arafat and
instead seek a negotiated settlement to the conflict.
In
Gaza, Mohammad Dahlan, Security Minister in outgoing Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmud Abbas' government, told AFP: "We are not taking
these threats lightly".
Israel
was waiting for the right moment to assassinate Arafat, Dahlan added,
calling such a move a "serious error".
"Israel
is not stupid and knows that carrying out an attack against President
Arafat or his expulsion would open the door to a bloody conflict and
destroy any chance of re-launching the peace process," Dahlan said.
Palestinian
Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath also denounced the Israeli threats as
"criminal, insolent and stupid".
"Israel
would have to face its responsibilities in front of the world as a state
of gangsters and not as a real constitutional state," he told AFP.
On
the Israeli side, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom played down the
government's recent decision to expel Arafat, insisting that action
would not be taken immediately.
However,
senior Israeli Minister Ehud Olmert, Industry Minister and number two in
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government, tried to put
"moral case" for assassinating the Palestinian leader,
insisting it would put a halt to the killing of innocent civilians.
"From
a fundamental, moral point of view, I want to put this question to every
man of conscience," Olmert told CNN late Sunday.
"How
many more civilians must be killed ... before someone will come and say,
'Hey, let's stop the man who has been responsible for all of this?'
"It's
well-known that he is the head of a terrorist gang."
But,
Shalom told reporters Olmert's comments were not the government's policy
and stressed that "the cabinet decision is not for immediate
action."
No
To Sharon
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Analysts
view support for Arafat as "Palestinian defiance to
Sharon"
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Commenting
on the massive outpouring of support for Arafat after Israel's decision
to "remove" him, analysts said it stemmed more from
Palestinians' refusal to see Israel interfere in their affairs rather
than unconditional love for their ageing leader, according to an AFP
report Monday.
"The
surge in Arafat's popularity is no great mystery: it comes from the
Palestinians' instinct to rally around the flag in reaction to Israel's
decision," Israeli strategy analyst Mark Heller told AFP.
He
said the thousands of Palestinians who had demonstrated in the West Bank
and Gaza as well as in refugee camps abroad against the Israeli decision
were sending a message "of defiance to Israel and the United
States."
Heller
said it was precisely this perception of outside interference that
"had undermined Abu Mazen," who never managed to garner enough
support at home to carry through planned security reforms.
Palestinian
political columnist Hassan al-Kashef agreed Arafat's cause had been
given an extra boost by Sharon's government's threat to get rid of the
74-year-old symbol of Palestinian nationalism.
"Palestinians
categorically refuse outside intervention and as a result they rallied
around Arafat," he said.
"It's
not that he's not popular nationally but some of the political decisions
he's made, some of the ways his administration works, are criticized.
But in moments like this, Palestinians unite behind him," he added.
Kashef
said Sharon's government had failed to anticipate the outpouring of
support for Arafat as Israel was in the habit of not "thinking of
the results of its actions against the Palestinians."
"The
way they deal with Hamas and the cycle of violence they perpetuate is a
good case in point," he said, referring to Israel's policy of
"liquidating" leaders of the movement.
Palestinian
political analyst Ibrahim Dakak said demonstrations in favor of Arafat
across the Palestinian territories were spontaneous.
"They
even included Hamas and Islamic Jihad that clearly do not share the same
line as Arafat," he said.
"Palestinian
internal conflicts were put on the backburner as a result of Israel's
decision."
Dakkak
said attacking Arafat whether physically or verbally was seen not just
as "a threat to his person, but to Palestinian society at
large."
"It's
not a matter of support to one person, demonstrations were staged in
defense of the Palestinians in general," he added.
But
Barry Rubin, the Israeli author of a new Arafat biography, said it was
"misleading to believe Arafat's popularity has increased."
"The
demonstrations were not spontaneous but featuring indoctrinated
schoolchildren and paid bureaucrats marching for Arafat," he said.
