Jerusalem

T

he two parties to the peace
process have renewed their
war of words, less than a
month after they signed a
land-for-security deal at the White
House.
Reacting to comments by
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yassir
Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu announced
Monday that he was suspending a
West Bank redeployment slated for
this week until the Palestinian leader
retracts his latest statement that he
will declare Palestinian statehood next
May. On Tuesday, Arafat made a con-
ciliatory, statement.
Netanyahu's comments came short-
ly before the Knesset began debating
the Wye agreement, which calls for an
Israeli pullback from 13 percent of the
West Bank in exchange for a
Palestinian crackdown on terrorism.
In a 75-to-19 vote Tuesay the parli-
ment ratified the accord, which ended
a 19-month stalemate in the peace
process.
But to the dismay of the United
States, which brokered the deal, both
sides have returned to inflammatory
rhetoric, and the agreement's imple-
mentation has been
slowed.
Netanyahu announced
the postponement one day
after Arafat spoke at an
event in the West Bank
town of Ramallah to mark
the Palestinian declaration
of independence issued 10
years ago in Algiers.
In addition to reiterat-
ing his vow to declare a
Palestinian state, Arafat
told the gathering of Fatah
members, "Our rifles are
ready, and we are prepared
to use them against whoever tries to
prevent us from praying in Jerusalem.
In recent weeks Arafat has faced
growing criticism — not only from
Islamic fundamentalist groups such as
Hamas, but also from within his own
Fatah organization, the main body in
the Palestine Liberation Organization.
"Arafat's standing among his own

Naomi Segal is a writer for the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency. JTA correspondents
Gil Sedan in Jerusalem and Matthew
Dorf in Washington contributed to this
report.

11/20

1998

36 Detroitiewisb News

Escalati
Rhetoric

Stalemate on Wye agreement
continues as Netanyahu
and Arafat trade charges.

Palestinian
students hung
effigies of Israeli
Prime Minister
Benjamin
Netanyahu and
U.S. President
Bill Clinton.

Below: Worried
about a possible
Iraqi attack,
Israeli soldiers
check gas masks at
a distribution
center in
Jerusalem on
Nov. 12.

people has been weakened" by signing
the Wye accord, Wadia Abu-Nassar, of
the Open University in Tel Aviv, said
in an interview. "He must make over-
tures toward the extremists, and direct
an accusing finger toward the Israelis,
in order to tell his people, 'Don't
worry, I have not deserted you.'
But apart from attempting to pla-
cate his own opposition, Arafat's
address was also a deliberate reminder
that the Wye accord did not amount
to any compromise on one of the ulti-
mate Palestinian goals — an indepen-
dent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

committed to the peace process.
But Netanyahu spokesman David
Bar-Illan said Arafat's statement did
not contain a retraction and was there-
fore unacceptable to Israel.
Palestinian officials countered that
Netanyahu had misunderstood Arafat's
remarks and that the self-rule authori-
ty remains committed to its decision
to pursue peace.
"He did not mean guns in the literal
sense," Palestinian official Ziad Abu
Ziad told Israel Radio. "He was talking
about Palestinian rights to Jerusalem."
Meanwhile, Dr. Ahmed Tibi, an
adviser to Arafat, charged Israel
with contributing to the inflam-
matory atmosphere.
Tibi cited comments made by
Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon,
who said Jewish settlers should
grab as much West Bank land as
they can to keep it from the
Palestinians.
"Whatever is seized will be
ours. Whatever isn't seized will be
in their hands," said the hawkish
Sharon, who championed Jewish
settlement in areas captured in
the 1967 Six-Day War.
Sharon had warned that if
the peace process continues to
deteriorate, a free-for-all would
develop in which in the West
Bank would be up for grabs.
Both Netanyahu and Arafat face
strong internal opposition to the
Wye accord,. Their respective declara-
tions can well be viewed as an attempt
to soften -that opposition.
Just the same, American officials
have their hands full with what looks
like two less-than-willing partners to
the peace process.
In Washington, State Department
spokesman James Rubin criticized the
comments issued from Israel and the
Palestinian Authority.
"There is no place in this process
for statements which call for or sug-
gest violent actions. These remarks
were wrong. And we will be raising
them directly with Chairman Arafat,"
Rubin said.
But at the same time, he had little
sympathy for Netanyahu's announce-
ment of postponing the redeployment.
"We expect both parties to abide by
the agreement they signed, which did
not include conditions about subjects
like this," Rubin said.
Using language that echoed what he
said about Arafat, Rubin also criticized
Sharon's "land grab" statement as
undermining "the trust and confidence
necessary for such an environment." El

I ecl Press/Na

NAOMI SEGAL
Special to The Jewish News

Speaking at the opening of the
Knesset debate, Netanyahu blasted the
Palestinian leader for heating up the
political atmosphere with his declara-
tions. The premier said Arafat's
remarks were a "clear threat, not only
to force the final status agreement on
us, but to do so with violence. It is a
dual violation of the agreements.
"I do not intend to carry out any
redeployment, including the first
phase this week, until the matter is
resolved," Netanyahu added.
Last Friday, he further complicated
the debate by approving renewed work
on a proposed 6,500-unit housing
development in Har Homa in east
Jerusalem, where the Palestinians want
their capital. Execution of the Oslo
Accords stalled nearly two years ago
when the plans for the development
were first announced, and angry
Palestinian students held noisy
protests this week to denounce renew-
al of the Har Homa plan.
Netanyahu called Arafat on
Monday and demanded a public
retraction. Arafat, speaking subse-
quently in Jericho, said he remained