PALESTINIANS AND ARABS REACTED ANGRILY AT BUSH’S SNUB TO ARAFAT
JERUSALEM 10 Nov. (IPS) Palestinian and Arab officials reacted with anger and
astonishment to President George W. Bush humiliating snub to Palestinian leader
Yaser Arafat, refusing to meet him in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing
session of the United Nations General Assembly.
"Any sober and rational calculation would reveal that this (a meeting) would not only be helpful to the Palestinians and Israelis. This would definitely be helpful in the total global quest for a more secure and more just world", Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Sha’ath said, doubting the wisdom of Mr. Bush’s reluctance to meet his Palestinian counterpart.
Though he said that Arafat would arrive in New York on Saturday even without an appointment with Bush, make a speech on Sunday and meet with those leaders who want to see him, but sources said Mr. Arafat has lately been reconsidering because of the chilly reception he has been getting from the White House.
Other Palestinian officials accused the United States on Friday of bowing to Israeli demands by ruling out talks between President Bush and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat at the United Nations at the weekend.
Palestinian had hoped Bush would meet Arafat at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, but U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said since Arafat had not done enough to distance himself from groups which Washington calls terrorist, there were no plans for Bush and Arafat to meet.
She told reporters in Washington that Arafat was not doing enough to rein in militants "and so the president continues to make that clear to Mr. Arafat and there are no plans to meet with Mr. Arafat in New York."
What has angered the Palestinians more is that Mr. Bush has met other Arab leaders and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon but refused to receive Arafat since taking office.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had been due to meet Bush during the weekend, but said he had to stay at home because of the troubled situation.
Ms Rice said Bush had made it clear to Arafat that he could not help the U.S. with al-Qaeda and "hug Hezbollah and Hamas" at the same time.
But it is not clear why then the US Administration had not take any action against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the main supporter of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad as well as the Lebanese Hezbollah, alos on the new American list of "terrorist" organisations.
Hojjatoleslam Mohammed-Ali Abtahi, Iranian Vice-President for parliamentary affairs, called on Hezbollah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah in the presence of the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Ali Sobhani and reiterated Iran's support for Hezbollah and its resistance - with the help of the Lebanese people - of the "Zionist entity", the Organisation’s television station "Al Minar" reported.
"Placing Hezbollah on the US terrorist lists is something that conflicts [with the convictions] of all the free people of the world", Mr. Abtahi said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said later on Friday that Bush and Arafat would ultimately meet, even if it weren’t over the weekend. "I think in due course, when the time is right, Mr. Arafat will have a chance to meet with the president," he told Fox News and a State Department official said that an "accidental meeting" or handshake between Bush and Arafat could take place during the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Mr. Powell has also not yet scheduled a meeting with Arafat, but State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said the only hold up was the uncertainty over whether Arafat was in fact coming to New York. If he does, Boucher said, Powell "will be glad" to meet with him.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faysal, in an interview published in
Friday's New York Times, said Bush's failure to commit his personal prestige to
seeking a peace settlement "makes a sane man go mad."
He said his government was "angrily frustrated" that the Bush administration had failed to begin the promised new Middle East peace initiative.
"The thing that is so sad is that what is needed to make peace is very little", Mr. al-Faysal noted, adding that Bush must establish himself as an "honest broker" and "cannot be an honest broker and only meet with one side."
Days after the attacks on the United States, President Bush said he would push for the creations of an independent Palestinian State, but it has since shied away from engagement, despite the Arab and European view that failing to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict creates a breeding ground for political violence.
Diplomatic sources said both French President Jacques Chirac and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in their separate meetings with Mr. Bush earlier this week, "advised" him to give the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more attention, as the issue has its own impact on Islam-based terrorism.
After a meeting with Mr. Blair on Wednesday, Mr. Bush said that though both are working hard to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians, they intend to bring "Al-Qa’eda" to justice "with or without" peace in the Middle East.
[Addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, Mr. Bush assured that thee American government "also stands by its commitment to a just peace in the Middle East".
"We are working toward the day when two states -- Israel and Palestine -- live peacefully together within secure and recognised borders as called for by the Security Council resolutions", he said, adding: "We will do all in our power to bring both parties back into negotiations. But peace will only come when all have sworn off forever incitement, violence and terror".
At least 701 Palestinians and 187 Israelis have been killed since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in September 2000 after peace talks stalled. ENDS BUSH SNUB ARAFAT 101101