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CNN Live Today

Israelis, Palestinians Appeal to American Negotiators

Aired April 05, 2002 - 12:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go back to the Middle East.

We are going to turn to CNN's Jerrold Kessel with some diplomatic maneuvering in Jerusalem regarding this Mideast crisis -- Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, that diplomatic maneuvering indeed continuing with reports of whether Gen. Zinni will be able to advance as the Palestinians see it, because we are hearing that Prime Minister Sharon is not allowing other Palestinian leaders to meet with Yasser Arafat to coordinate their positions in advance of further meetings between the American side and the Palestinian side.

So that diplomatic flurry of development that occurred when Gen. Zinni began his meeting with Yasser Arafat today, perhaps running into something of a barrier now. That may unfold over the next several hours.

But certainly on the military front, the Israelis have continued their offensive into Palestinian towns in the wake of those suicide bombings that the Israelis call the sweep, which has gone into over a week, into its eighty and ninth day into several Palestinian towns in the wake of those suicide bombings. The Israelis say they are out there to flush out the roots of Palestinian terror. And the major fighting today has been in the towns of Jenin and Nablus, in the northern parts of the West Bank, and some very fierce fighting, we hear both from Palestinians and the Israeli side, both in Palestinian refugee camps adjacent to Jenin and in Casbah, the heart of Nablus.

Now, this all in advance of both sides jockeying for position in advance of what they know will be that mission of Secretary of State Colin Powell next week. Both sides welcomed the U.S. initiative, but there are also a great deal of misgivings, as we heard from people on both sides, Palestinian and Israelis alike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KESSEL (voice-over): If President Bush's message to Prime Minister Sharon was, wind down your action against terror, the message he had for the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world was, reel the terrorists in.

The Palestinian leadership says it accepts the U.S. initiative unconditionally, but Palestinian ministers say the onus is on Sharon to deescalate before the U.S. secretary of state arrives. Israelis worry the Bush initiative will undercut Sharon's war against what he calls the sources of terror.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We learned from the Americans. Afghanistan was a beautiful job, and we thought that we would have enough time to do the job. But here, Americans come and say stop in the middle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to kill the terrorism, because you can see about three or four days, there are no terrorists. It's the first day in Jerusalem -- I have my office here, it is the first day in Jerusalem I can see people are walking, not bombing. So I think we get another few weeks, and then I will be very glad with American interfering.

KESSEL: Newspaper headlines reflect the diverse response of the Israelis. Bush, "Enough is enough," the top selling "Yediot Aharonot" (ph), its tabloid rival choosing to highlight perceived U.S. pressure on Arafat; others, more understanding, of the president's position.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bush was critical both of Israel and certainly of the Palestinians. I think that -- and I think that he is correct. There is no military solution to the problem.

KESSEL: Across in east Jerusalem, the Palestinian press, detailing the ongoing Israeli military sweep, has little front-page space for the new U.S. active involvement, but on Palestinian streets, we heard a gamut of strong views, predominantly negative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bush, if he wanted to withdraw all of the Israelis from the occupation immediately, not to leave them (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to kill all of the Palestinians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Bush, he has two eyes, two eyes for the Jews, no eyes for Arab side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sharon will do whatever he wants. He will not care about Bush or anything.

KESSEL: What Palestinians welcome is the president's urging of Israel to stop humiliating ordinary Palestinians, like at checkpoints. These people, making their way to their way to the holy Islamic shrine in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City, were checked several times before they could reach their destination. The fear of bomb belts on would-be suicide bombers very much on the minds of the Israeli troops.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

The president spoke of the U.S. having a vision of getting the way out of this morass between Israelis and the Palestinians, but as this confrontation, this lengthy confrontation has shown, reality has had a way of imposing itself on even the best enunciated of visions, and by the time Mr. Powell arrives here next week, there is plenty of time for reality to make its mark yet again -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much -- Jerrold Kessel live in Jerusalem with the latest from there.

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