Monday, Apr 15, 2002
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By Kesava Menon
International peace activists wave white flags as Israeli border police stop them from reaching the Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat's compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday.
Gen. Powell and senior Palestinian officials said later that the meeting had been "useful and constructive" but did not elaborate, only saying that various ideas had been discussed. While the Ramallah meeting was going on, the Israeli army announced that it would end its sweeping ban on journalists entering occupied Palestinian areas, which had been designated closed military zones. However, some restrictions are understood to remain in place: on Mr. Arafat's compound in Ramallah, Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and the Jenin refugee camp — scene of some of the fiercest fighting. The refusal to let anyone inside the Jenin camp is significant since the Palestinians want international human rights groups and the media to go to the area to check their claims that a massacre took place there. The Jenin controversy has deepened with Israel's Defence Minister, Benjamin Ben Eliezer, stating that "dozens" not hundreds of Palestinians had died there. Mr. Powell drove to Mr. Arafat's compound with an Israeli military escort. Israel withdrew its tanks from their positions in front of Mr. Arafat's offices before Gen. Powell arrived and the troops too came out of their defensive positions. But the ring was tightened soon after Gen. Powell left. Gen. Powell is expected to meet Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon tonight. He was originally scheduled to meet Arafat on Saturday but the meeting was postponed after a suicide bombing attack in Jerusalem on Friday. Gen. Powell was apparently waiting for a condemnation of the suicide attack by Mr. Arafat before he agreed to a meeting. Palestinians, however, are livid at the demand for a condemnation of suicide bombings when the U.S. has not said a word about the deaths caused by Israeli forces. Gen. Powell called on the Israeli army to refrain from excessive use of force and expressed his concern over the humanitarian situation. Soon after Gen. Powell's statement, Mr. Arafat issued a statement condemning "all attacks that are targeting civilians from both sides, especially the attack that took place against Israeli civilians yesterday". This statement, in Arabic, was distributed by the Palestinian news agency, thereby fulfilling a long-standing Israeli and U.S. demand. A ceasefire should be the next item on the agenda if progress is to be made. While Israel would like the Palestinian Authority to make such a declaration without delay, Mr. Arafat cannot and will not issue it as long as the Israeli army is camped at his doorstep. The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat pointed out this was not a conditionality but a practical consideration. In the recent incursions into Palestinian territories, the Israeli army has destroyed the Authority's security and civilian infrastructure. The Palestinians insist that they need to conduct a damage assessment before they can determine what they can do but have promised to put in a 100 per cent effort to maintain peace once the Israelis have withdrawn and ceasefire declarations are made by both sides. Without giving details, Mr. Erekat said the ideas that had been mooted recently — including the Saudi initiative that was adopted by the Arab League, the U.S. President, George W. Bush's vision of a two-State resolution and the U.N. resolution calling for such a settlement — were discussed at the meeting today. U.S. and Palestinian officials will meet tomorrow for follow-up discussions and Gen. Powell will travel to Ramallah again on Tuesday for a meeting with Mr. Arafat.
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