US Pro-Israel Attitude Does not Serve Peace: Arafat's Spokesman

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 05, 2001

US Pro-Israel Attitude Does not Serve Peace: Arafat's Spokesman

A spokesman for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stressed on Tuesday that the US attitude toward Israel's bombing of Arafat's headquarters does not serve the Mideast peace process.

A spokesman for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stressed on Tuesday that the US attitude toward Israel's bombing of Arafat's headquarters does not serve the Mideast peace process.

"But such an attitude encourages Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to continue his aggressive policy and carry out more massacres against the palestinians," Marawan Kanafani told the Cairo-based Voice of the Arab from Gaza.

"Sharon is promoting false accusations against arafat and the Palestinian (National) Authority to justify his belligerent policy and blow up the entire peace process," he said.

Monday afternoon, four Israeli Apache helicopters fired at least 19 rockets and destroyed one of two helicopters in Arafat's headquarters compound in Gaza City.

Following the attacks, the U.S. pointed to Israel's right to self-defense, and urged Arafat to show his commitment to peace "in actions, not words."

The U.S. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that President George W. Bush "understands that Israel has a right to defend herself."

Kanafani called on the U.S., the European Union, Russia and Arab countries to intensify efforts to stem the deteriorating situations in the Middle East region, saying that the only way out of the current crisis is to return to the negotiating table, implement signed accords and withdraw the Israeli army from the Palestinian lands.

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