Arafat envoy makes appeal to Athens

The Palestinian envoy to Athens yesterday called on the Greek government to diplomatically step in to the Middle East crisis, hours after Israeli tanks and troops attacked Yasser Arafat’s offices in the West Bank. «I spoke this morning with (Palestinian Authority President Yasser) Arafat’s office and then called the Greek government – the foreign minister’s office – and conveyed a message from Arafat for Greece’s intervention on a bilateral level, as well as in cooperation with the Americans,» Palestinian Ambassador Abdullah Abdullah told reporters yesterday on embassy grounds. In the early hours yesterday, the Israeli Cabinet, after an all-night session, branded Arafat an «enemy» of Israel, saying that «Israel will work to defeat the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in all its parts and ingredients and, to that end, will conduct a wide-ranging operation to achieve that goal.» Based on the Israeli Cabinet’s decision, Israel approved the mobilization of army reserves to assist in military operations which will include the isolation of Arafat. «Arafat, who has set up a coalition of terror against Israel, is an enemy and at this stage will be isolated,» the Israeli Cabinet said in its decision. Yesterday’s raid was the closest Israeli forces have come to the Palestinian leader in 18 months of fighting, engaging in gunfights with his security forces, while shelling punched holes in his walled compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah. At least 13 of Arafat’s security guards were injured in the attack, while Israeli soldiers demanded over loudspeakers that all armed men in the compound surrender. The Palestinian envoy in Athens said that Israel has launched a «war of ethnic cleansing» against the Palestinians, declaring that the timing of the attack – after an offer by Arafat for an unconditional ceasefire and the peace initiative adopted by the Arab League on Thursday – conveys an answer that Israel has no interest in peace efforts. «The choice of the timing of this attack by (Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon, is clear proof that the Israeli government is trying to ignore the calls for peace which came to light in recent days,» Abdullah said after a series of meetings with Greek political party leaders. «Ariel Sharon chose to declare this war just a few hours after a public statement from the Arab world on the unanimous adoption of the Saudi initiative for lasting peace between Arab countries and Israel, which was hailed by the entire international community.» Responding to the latest Israeli attack, a defiant Arafat declared yesterday that he would rather die than surrender himself to the Israeli forces. «They want me under arrest, or in exile, or dead, but I am telling them, I prefer to be a martyr,» Arafat said in a telephone interview with Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite television channel. «May God make us martyrs.» The latest strike by Israel came after a suicide bombing Wednesday night in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya, which killed 21 diners in a hotel banquet hall where 250 guests were gathered for a Passover Seder. Another suicide bomb attack was carried out yesterday afternoon by a Palestinian woman who struck the entrance of a Jerusalem supermarket, killing herself and two other people, and injuring about 20. ‘War of genocide’ The Palestinian ambassador in Athens reasserted that Israel’s occupation and military attacks are a «war of genocide,» and he appealed to the international community, especially the four powers already engaged in peace efforts – the USA, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union – to intervene and put an end to the cycle of violence. «We always said that it is time to put an end to violence,» Abdullah noted, while stressing that the Palestinian people cannot give up their rights, and that they will resist this «war of genocide.» «We say to the Israeli government that in spite of the size of its military power, it will never succeed in defeating the will of the Palestinian people for freedom and independence.» The ambassador said that Israel has attacked water supplies and electricity plants, has destroyed the international airport and port facilities, demolishing most of the infrastructure in the Palestinian territories. «They have attacked ambulances and killed doctors and nurses,» he declared. «They have destroyed almost all police stations and now they insist that the Palestinian police carry on its operations in this climate,» making a clear reference to Israel’s demands for arrests of suspected Islamic militants. Abdullah said that during the period 1996-2000, when the Palestinian Authority had control over Palestinian towns and territories, there were fewer attacks. «But the Israeli government uses guns to enforce the rules of Sharon… 96 Palestinians were killed in the first days of the uprising, also known as the intifada. What did they expect?» the Palestinian envoy remarked. Abdullah stressed that the international community cannot passively stand by as «ethnic cleansing» of the Palestinian people is carried out by Ariel Sharon. He called on the major powers to step in and end the military occupation and invasion. «We caution the international community not to silently stand by in the face of these crimes against humanity that Ariel Sharon is committing,» Abdullah declared. «No one today, whether he is a civilian or in government can claim ignorance, can claim that he doesn’t see the genocide under way, as the international community claimed on another occasion some 60 years ago.» For Abdullah, this is a turning point for the future of the Middle East, as well as for the international community as peacemakers and peacekeepers. «We hope that the suspicious silence internationally will not continue, and the complicity of some international powers in the crimes committed must end, otherwise the international community today should take on responsibility,» he said.