Posted on 07/24/2004 9:41:54 PM PDT by John Lenin
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stepped out in public Saturday for the first time since violent protests against his regime began a week ago.
Arafat's appearance in public came on the same day as militants in the Gaza Strip torched a Palestinian police station and upheaval against the Palestinian government and Arafat's regime continued.
Amidst a large crowd of supporters gathered to see and touch the leader, Arafat called for a million martyrs to march on Jerusalem. And he denied there is any crisis within his political organization.
Yet many within his organization are calling for the 74-year-old leader to resign.
Earlier Saturday, unidentified assailants broke into the empty station in the town of Zwaida, about seven kilometres south of Gaza City.
They poured gasoline on mattresses and blankets inside the building, and set it alight. The blaze also damaged the town council, on an upper story of the building.
No one was injured in the incident, but police files, computers and communications equipment were destroyed.
The attack was the latest in a series motivated by anti-Arafat sentiment sparked by the appointment of his cousin, Moussa Arafat -- who is strongly disliked and widely perceived by Palestinians to be corrupt -- to control Gaza's security forces.
The mayor of Zwaida said that it seemed the purpose of the raid was to "spread lawlessness and terror among the people."
As his constituents gathered to see the damage, the mayor said they needed to feel a sense of law and order.
Indeed, one angry resident confronted the mayor saying: "The police cannot even protect their own station. Who's going to protect us?"
Meanwhile, in Khan Younis, about 20 militants belonging to the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade took over the building of the local administration. They wanted officials to re-instate them to the security jobs they were fired from.
After several hours, the militants left after receiving promises that Palestinian officials would resolve the problem of those fired.
There were no injuries or damage in that incident.
Gaza has been especially troubled since a wave of kidnappings and demonstrations earlier this month, which prompted Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to submit his resignation amid what he described as "the state of chaos and loss of control over the security situation."
Qureia quit in frustration over his lack of authority, but Arafat refused to accept the resignation, sparking a standoff between himself and Qureia, who was supported by the Palestinian legislature.
The parliament also threatened to strike in protest, but chose instead to form a committee to present reform recommendations to Arafat, a sign that Arafat may yet again force his opponents to back down from their challenge of his authority.
Despite the outcry, Arafat is denying his government is in a crisis. "The prime minister has the full right to propose anything he wants, and whatever is suitable for him," Arafat said. "I will support whatever he decides. I highly and fully trust him."
In spite of their adoration of Arafat -- who is seen by his people as a symbol of resistance against Israel -- many Palestinians believe the time has come for him to step down.
"I don't know what to say about Arafat, maybe it's time for him to retire, maybe he should do serious reforms -- that's the issue," said one Ramallah man.
"This is not democracy," a Ramallah woman said.
"Democracy is that every Palestinian kid have the right to eat and to go to school and play."
University lecturer Majdi Al-Malki agrees, saying Arafat's tenure has come to an end.
"He has to understand that his time has gone and he has to accept that things have changed and a new leadership should really emerge," Al-Malki said.
Another surprising criticism of Arafat came from the United Nations' Mideast envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, a man Palestinians have long viewed as sympathetic to their cause. Roed-Larsen slammed Arafat for the increasingly lawless and violent state of the Palestinian territories.
The vehement public criticism shocked Palestinians and largely deflated a victory granted to them this week from the UN General Assembly, which voted 150-6 to condemn Israel's construction of a security barrier in the West Bank.
With a report from Matthew Kalman in Ramallah for CTV News
We owe Arafat for deliberately killing our people.
Why let the Israeli's or Satan take him? I would rather we eliminated this terrorist leader.
I remember reading an Isreali opinion piece suggesting that Sharon's plan to evaculate the Gaza was a brilliant stategy to end the Palestinain Authority and the idea of a Palestinian state once and for all. It presumed that by creating a power vacum there would inevitably be a civil war among the various Arab terrorist factions, and the disolution of the PA. Israel could then point to the resulting anarchy as proof that a Palestinian state is impossible.
It seems to be working.
Lawless in Gaza
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1176477/posts
Palestinian PM Withdraws ResignationLast week, in an initial move to silence critics, Arafat agreed to consolidate his security forces into three branches, and on Tuesday he gave Qureia control over one of them.
by LARA SUKHTIAN
Jul 27, 11:13 PM EDT
Under the agreement, Qureia will have authority over the internal security forces - the police, civil defense and preventive security - while Arafat will control the Palestinian intelligence service and armed forces, Palestinian officials said.
Officials said Arafat also gave ground on corruption, agreeing to order the attorney general to open investigations against tainted officials.
But the accord failed to resolve the controversy over Arafat's appointment of his cousin Moussa Arafat as chief of security in Gaza. Moussa Arafat is widely accused of human rights violations and suspected of weapons and drugs smuggling.
How do you pronounce Moussa?
Translation: Arafat cut Qureia in on a bigger share of the EU terror funding money.
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