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Hizbullah's success puts the heat on Arafat
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Thursday, June 1, 2000
RAMALLAH [MENL] -- Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is coming
under increasing public pressure to follow in the footsteps of Hizbullah in
dealing with Israel.
Arafat said that the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hizbullah's success in
driving Israel out of southern Lebanon after 22 years has set a precedent in
the Middle East.
"Hizbullah are being portrayed as heroes in the Arab world, while the
Palestinians look like losers," he told Israeli Environment Minister, Dalia
Itzik, Tuesday. "You have to understand what sort of pressure is being
placed on me by the public. My public perceives Hizbullah to be heroes who
succeeded in getting the Israeli army out of Lebanon and believe that is the
route we should take as well."
Arafat said that he was being pressured from all sectors of the
Palestinian community to attain a prisoner release.
"My situation is not simple. The pressure on me is coming from every
direction. The Palestinian people want to see results in terms of the
release of prisoners. In practice, they see nothing is moving."
After the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Hizbullah
immediately aligned with the Palestinians.
In Beirut, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday Hizbullah
would continue to attack Israel until Israel released all Lebanese and
Palestinian prisoners.
Arafat came in for ground roots criticism last week after he made
statements in support of the Israeli peace process and maligned Hizbullah.
He told a television interviewer that the Israeli withdrawal from south
Lebanon was prompted by Israel's quest for peace and was not motivated by
Hizbullah's resistance, the Iranian News Agency said.
Meanwhile, Arafat said that the talks with Israel had made no progress
on the issues of the third territorial withdrawal agreed on at Sharm
El-Sheikh.
Arafat has written to United States President Bill Clinton urging the
U.S to push for progress in the Palestinian-Israeli talks. Clinton will
meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Berlin Wednesday to discuss
the withdrawal.
