Protest demonstration in Nablus; Canada and Greece and Italy stand with Palestine at the Orient house
Palestine, Politics, 5/6/1999

Nablus city in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday witnessed a large demonstration carried out by students of al-Najah University in opposition to not declaring the Palestinian statehood.

The students, whose number exceeded 3,000, denounced the Israeli occupation and burnt the Israeli flag and photos of Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, and candidates for prime minister Labor Party leader Ehud Barak and former Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai.

Meanwhile, US President Bill Clinton on Tuesday asserted the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their own independent state on their native soil.

He pledged to work for halting the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The AP quoted Clinton as saying in a message he addressed to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat that the Palestinians have the right to self-determination and to live free today, tomorrow and forever.

But the US president urged Arafat not to declare Palestinian statehood, unilaterally. The US president added that the Palestinians were committed to implementing provisions of the Wye River agreement signed in Washington in October 1998. He praised the efforts exerted by the Palestinian Authority in preventing attacks against Israel.

Clinton reaffirmed the US opposition to the settlement activity carried out by Israel in areas under its occupation. He added that Washington knows well the destructive consequences of building settlements, confiscating land and demolishing houses towards the question of the Palestinian people.

For his part, Arafat welcomed the US position and viewed its as an unprecedented positive US stand in the policy pursued by Washington towards the cause of the Palestinian people.

In a televised speech Arafat said that the May 4 date has become "regrettably" an important declaration by the Israeli side to escape the requirements of peace and obligations resulting from the agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

On the other hand, several Palestinian officials including the official for the file of Jerusalem at the PA, Faisal al-Husseini, spent Tuesday night in Beit al-Sharq (the Orient House) in occupied Jerusalem after receiving news that Israel may close down suddenly Belt al-Sharq and its affiliated offices.

On Tuesday a solidarity rally was held in Beit al-Sharq. It was attended by several officials including the consuls of Canada, Greece and Italy. Several speeches were delivered during the rally stressing solidarity with Palestinian officials in rejecting the Israeli threats to close down three offices in Beit al-Sharq.

Previous Stories:
  Arafat confirms that Palestinian state is to be proclaimed soon   (5/5/1999)
  Arafat heads to Denmark   (5/3/1999)
  Leader of the Islamic Jihad directs criticism to Hamas   (4/30/1999)

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