Israel's decision to expel Arafat backfires
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 9/13/2003

The decision taken by the government of Ariel Sharon to expel the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat backfired against Israel, and turned into a referendum which reconfirmed the leadership of the Palestinian President at the Palestinian, Arab and international levels.

The decision of Sharon government to displace Arafat faced a wave of criticism in all parts of the world and warnings to Tel Aviv of escalating the situation in all parts of the Middle East.

Israel's decision to expel Arafat will be discussed today in the meeting to be held by the foreign ministers of the UN Security Council's five permanent member states in Geneva, dedicated for the issue of Iraq.

Members of the UN Security Council warned Israel of implementing its decision to expel Arafat. A statement read to journalists by the British ambassador to the UN Emyr Jones Parry, the current chairman of the Security Council said aid the council "expressed the view that the removal of Mr. Arafat would be unhelpful and should not be implemented." This statement was agreed to during a close door emergency session, held at the request of the Arab states and the group of the non- aligned states at the UN.

Diplomats said that members of the council decided not to act at the meantime regarding the draft resolution circulated by Nasser al-Qidwa, the Palestinian ambassador at the UN, calling on Israel not to do anything that will harm Arafat or expel him. Instead of that, the UN security council will hold an open meeting on Monday concerning the crisis in the region.

A Palestinian official said that the US secretary of state stressed to the Palestinians that he had contacted his Israeli counterpart Shalom Silvan to inform him of Washington's opposition to the decision of expelling Arafat.

The spokesman for the White House, Scott McClellan, warned that expelling Arafat would give him a wider prospect. The US ambassador in Israel, Dan Kurtzer, reiterated yesterday his country's opposition to expelling Arafat, during his meeting with the Israeli defense minister Shaoul Mofaz.

Meantime, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated yesterday following Friday's prayers in the West Bank and Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinian leader. In Ramullah, where Arafat lives under sieged since December 2001, some 150 of people gathered raising his pictures and chanted slogans supporting him. Later in the day, at the evening, hundreds flocked to the besieged headquarters to express solidarity with Arafat.

For its part, al-Aqsa brigade of the Fatah movement threatened to "strike everywhere in Israel" if Israel expels the Palestinian President. It said in a statement "we declare openly that if this decision is implemented, we will strike everywhere with no exception. There will be no limits and we will make no distinction between a young or an elderly."

The leading figure in the Islamic Jihad movement, Muhammad al-Hindi, stressed he phoned Arafat to "inform him of the solidarity of his movement with him and total rejections of the Israeli decision to expel him." On the other hand, the Israeli forces yesterday broke into the courtyard of al-Aqsa mosque and fired sound and tear bombs at worshippers and this causing harm to many of them including women, elderly and children.

Previous Stories:
  Israeli collective punishment escalate, 18 Palestinians homes demolished, electricity cut from 6 towns   (9/12/2003)
  New raid against Gaza, al-Zahhar survived, his son, guard murdered, 20 wounded   (9/11/2003)
  Amnesty calls to end policy of closures and restriction of movement   (9/10/2003)
  Some 15 Israelis are killed in two attacks in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv   (9/10/2003)
  Qrei: I will not be a prime minister under the Israeli instructions   (9/10/2003)
  Abbas resignation and the roadmap, another victims of Israel's unending and unrestrained brutality   (9/6/2003)

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