Re: CNN USING 1991 FOOTAGE of celebrating Palistinians to

At 08:33 AM 9/13/01 -0500, Alan Spector wrote:
>I find the comments below entirely plausible. BUT I CANNOT SPREAD THIS
>INFORMATION ON BASED SOLELY ON AN E-MAIL!  So, if someone can find a more
>authoritative source for that story about 1991 Footage, I, and thousands
>more would be very grateful and promise to spread that information to
>hundreds of thousands more.
>
>Alan Spector

NY Times, September 13, 2001

THE ARABS
Arafat Angrily Insists Palestinians Didn't Rejoice
By JAMES BENNET
 
JERUSALEM, Sept. 12 — Yasir Arafat angrily rejected tonight any suggestion
that Palestinians had rejoiced over the terrorist attack on the United
States on Tuesday, declaring that the Palestinian reaction was one of
identification and not satisfaction with American suffering.

"For your information," Mr. Arafat said, when asked in an interview about
images shown around the world of Palestinians celebrating, "it is clear and
obvious that it was less than 10 children in East Jerusalem, and we
punished them." It was unclear how this assertion could be squared with
photographs suggesting that there were more people.

In the rare telephone interview, Mr. Arafat, who donated blood today that
was intended for Americans wounded in the attack, said Israelis were taking
advantage of the world's focus on the horror in the United States, and
perhaps exploiting its anger over Tuesday's images, to tighten restrictions
on Palestinians and to assault the West Bank town of Jenin, where seven
Palestinians were killed today.

Mr. Arafat, who spoke from Gaza City, emphasized that Palestinians had
reason to feel compassion for Americans. "As Palestinians, we too have
experienced the tragic loss of innocent civilians, who suffer from violence
on a daily basis," he said. "Our hearts go out to the people of the United
States during this tragedy, our prayers are with them." He paused, then,
spacing the words out for emphasis, repeated three times, "God bless them."

But interviews on the streets of Ramallah and Nablus today revealed a more
diverse, complex Palestinian response to the attack. Some Palestinians
condemned it, while others, furious at the United States for its policies
here, said they hoped America had learned a lesson.

"Some people say Israel is an American state, but I say America is an
Israeli state," said Muhammed Nabil, sitting in his candy stall in the
dusky warren of figs, fresh meat and sneakers that is the Nablus market.

Israelis today relished the Palestinian predicament over the terror attack.
"From the perspective of the Jews, it is the most important public-
relations act ever committed in our favor," wrote a guest columnist in the
daily Maariv.

But Palestinian officials fanned out in the news media to counter this
Israeli drive, deploring terrorism and urging sympathy for the Palestinian
plight. They argued that a handful of extremists were being treated as
representative of all Palestinians. 

In addition to the drive to collect blood from Mr. Arafat and others, the
Palestinian Authority announced that all Palestinian schoolchildren would
stand on Thursday for five minutes of silence.

West Bank towns were mostly quiet after the attack on Tuesday. But in
Nablus, Palestinians took to the streets joyfully, without cameras to egg
them on.

In the interview, Mr. Arafat at first insisted that "they were making this
big demonstration because of the siege and the escalation of the Israeli
military attack against Jenin."

Told that people in Nablus said today that the demonstration was in
celebration of the terror attack, Mr. Arafat acknowledged that "there are
some fanatic groups, and I'm sorry to tell you that these fanatic groups
have been established by the Israelis."

This appeared to be a reference to the fact that Israel, seeking a
counterweight to Mr. Arafat, assisted a fledgling group called the Islamic
Resistance Movement in the 1980's. The group is known better now by its
Arabic shorthand, Hamas, the name for the now-militant group seen on
posters today in Nablus.

Mr. Arafat went as far as to praise the United States for its handling of
the staggering peace effort here. He said Secretary of State Colin L.
Powell had telephoned him today, and he insisted that "there is a big
effort from the American administration" toward peace.

Asked if the United States would be justified in using force against any
country implicated in the attack, Mr. Arafat said, "It is their decision,
not my decision." But he added, "Those who have done this fatal crime and
fatal mistake against the American people have to be punished."

Nablus is reached by a road that winds through terraced hillsides dotted
with olive trees and, on the high ground, Israeli settlements. With
Israelis clamping down on Palestinian towns after Tuesday's violence, the
road was almost empty today.The town's police headquarters is mostly rubble
from an Israeli F-16 attack in May. 

Some in Nablus condemned any violence against civilians. Amin Amira, a
43-year-old fruit vendor, said he was dismayed by Tuesday's demonstration.
"I don't believe that this reflects the feeling of the Palestinian people,"
he said.

Others were more sympathetic to the demonstrators. "We go to the
checkpoints and are subjected to brutal measures by the Israelis, and
Americans support that," said Ahmed Takrouri, 20. "When people went to the
streets yesterday, it was because of that feeling."


Louis Proyect
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