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Israel rejects un resolution on arafat { September 20 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3170779,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3170779,00.html
Israel Rejects U.N. Resolution on Arafat
Saturday September 20, 2003 3:59 PM
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel dismissed a U.N. resolution demanding it retract threats to remove Yasser Arafat while the Palestinian leader hailed the vote Saturday, calling it an important sign of support for the Palestinians.
The overwhelming vote in the U.N. General Assembly on Friday - 133 nations endorsed the measure - came as the incoming Palestinian prime minister vigorously defended Arafat, saying he is key to peace efforts and the United States should treat him as a real partner.
Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qureia's criticism of U.S. policy was the strongest sign yet he does not plan to challenge Arafat, whom Israel and the United States tried to circumvent by pressing for the creation of the post of prime minister.
Instead, Arafat appears to have maintained a central role, handpicking Qureia after the resignation of the first prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, and moving to shape a Cabinet of loyalists from his Fatah party.
Bush said Thursday that Arafat ``had a failed as leader'' and accused him of forcing out Abbas, who resigned Sept. 6 after wrangling with Arafat for months.
Qureia called Bush's statement ``regrettable'' and said it ``does not serve the peace process.''
``Arafat is the elected leader of the Palestinian people and represents the will of these people,'' Qureia told The Associated Press on Friday. ``President Arafat is a real partner.''
Arafat also responded Friday. ``You have to know we are the authority of the Palestinians that has been recognized by all the Palestinians,'' he told ABC News. Bush ``has to remember that President Clinton was dealing with me, his father was dealing with me. And he was in the beginning with me.''
Arafat's popularity soared after Israel's decision on Sept. 11 to ``remove'' him at an unspecified time. Israeli officials have suggested he may be exiled, killed or simply isolated at his shattered compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
A first attempt at the United Nations to condemn the Israeli decision was thwarted by the United States, which vetoed a Security Council resolution because it did not censure the Palestinians for suicide bombings that have killed more than 400 Israelis in nearly three years of fighting.
But Friday in the General Assembly, Palestinian diplomats won the support of the European Union and many African states by adding a condemnation of suicide bombings to match language in the resolution deploring Israel's ``extrajudicial killings and their recent escalation.''
``This decision is of the utmost importance,'' Arafat told hundreds of supporters who gathered outside his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The resolution ``shows the international community ... stands by the Palestinian people, who have lived under this occupation that does not respect any laws''
Only two other countries - Micronesia and the Marshall Islands - joined Israel and the United States in opposing the resolution, though 15 nations did abstain.
General Assembly resolutions - unlike those of the powerful U.N. Security Council - aren't legally binding. But they do carry symbolic weight.
The vote was ``a real slap to Israel and to its supporters,'' said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a senior aide to Arafat.
Israel said the Palestinians should concentrate on fighting terrorism, not U.N. resolutions.
``Once again, the Palestinians have decided to focus their energies on rhetoric instead of fighting terrorism,'' the foreign ministry said in a statement.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte called the resolution unbalanced for not condemning specific Palestinian militant groups.
Israel and the United States say the Palestinians must take action against the militants, as required under the U.S.-backed ``road map'' peace plan. Both, however, have said they don't believe the Palestinians will crack down as long as Arafat retains any power.
Israel's announcement that it would remove Arafat triggered daily marches in support of Arafat.
Saturday, about two thousand people marched in the West Bank town of Hebron, carrying Palestinian flags and banners that read ``Arafat is our hero'' and ``Arafat is our leader'' and chanting ``in our blood and in our souls we will redeem Arafat.''
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
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