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Israeli Air Raids Will not Stop Stone Throwers: Arafat
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat reaffirmed Tuesday that the overnight Israeli air raids against targets in the West Bank and Gaza would not stop "Palestinian children from hurling stones to defend Jerusalem."
Arafat told reporters that "Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine whether they (Israelis) agreed or refused."
Arafat convened a cabinet meeting overnight after Israeli helicopter gunships bombed Palestinian security posts and headquarters of his political faction Fatah and its armed militia in late-night strikes.
In a statement carried by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, the Palestinian leadership called on "the United Nations, the international community, the Arab world, the European Union, China, Japan and the sponsors of the peace process to immediately intervene and use all of their authority against these aggressions and this dangerous Israeli military escalation that risks the security and peace in the Middle East."
The airstrikes were launched apparently in retaliation for the killings of three Israelis over the past few days.
The statement said the helicopter raids would not deter the Palestinians from their "just resistance to freedom and independence" and from restoring their legitimate right of establishing an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
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