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CNN Live At Daybreak
Arafat Tours Palestinian Towns, Camps
Aired May 13, 2002 - 05:30 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 COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat visited the Church of the Nativity three days after the standoff there ended. Arafat is now touring West Bank towns, following last month's Israeli incursion.
And we want to get more on Arafat's visit to the Church of the Nativity.
CNN's Rula Amin joins us by phone from Bethlehem. Is he done touring now, Rula?
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he is not done touring, but he is done touring in Bethlehem. His first stop here was the Church of the Nativity. This is Yasser Arafat's first time outside Ramallah since this early December. And today he came to the Church of the Nativity as his first stop.
He toured the church. He said that he was checking out any damage that was done to the church during that standoff that lasted over five weeks inside and around the church. Also, he appealed to the international community from inside the church, saying that what happened here should not be repeated. From the church, he went to a mosque, and then from there he went to the municipality, where he met with people from Bethlehem.
From Bethlehem, Yasser Arafat ordered his helicopters. They're not actually his helicopters, it's Jordanian helicopters that he has -- is using for the day to go to Jenin refugee camp, because the refugee camp, that was the scene for fierce fighting between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And what Palestinians say, Israeli soldiers had committed war crimes here; a charge that the Israelis deny very strongly.
Now from Jenin, Yasser Arafat is also going to visit the town of Nablus. It's another town in the West Bank where the casualties were heavy, more than 70 Palestinians were killed in Israel's latest military incursion there.
And Yasser Arafat is expected to go back to Ramallah after this tour. Again, this is his first trip outside Ramallah since early December -- back to you.
COSTELLO: Rula, we're looking at pictures here. Yasser Arafat is greeting some dignitaries or members of the church. Can you tell us about that? And he always seemed so surrounded by people when he moves anywhere. Is that for security purposes?
AMIN: Well he did come with two helicopters that were mainly security people. Palestinian aides we spoke to yesterday -- we were trying to get a seat on that helicopter tour to try to accompany him here and elsewhere in the West Bank. They told us no because security was very tight. Israeli troops had just left Bethlehem.
They had just left Jenin and other places. And they felt the security situation was very uptight. They needed all kinds of personnel with them because the Palestinian Authority is not in total control as it used to be in Palestinian towns and villages.
Also, in the church, you know, we spoke to a lot of the people here in Bethlehem who were happy to see him here. They thought that was a gesture from the president saying that he's committed to this town, to rebuilding it and to compensate people who have suffered heavy losses during Israel's military operation here.
However, we did hear some -- let me just say one thing -- we did hear complaints. You know some of the people here were angry that Yasser Arafat agreed to deport 13 people from, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) who were inside the church. Some of them were angry because he could not make this committee that was formed by the United Nations to go to Jenin. So some people think that he hasn't been standing strong enough for what they think should be done -- back to you.
COSTELLO: When he visits Jenin, what do you think his words will be? Will he try to downplay maybe that there might have been a massacre there? Or will he try to -- will he try to find evidence that there was a massacre there by the Israeli military?
AMIN: No, actually he wouldn't downplay it, because we have heard him speak before, and he calls it Jeningrad, trying to make similarities with what happened in Stalingrad in Russia. Basically, Yasser Arafat says, Yes, there were war crimes committed there. But he will be faced with people who would say, How come you didn't push enough for this U.N. committee -- the fact-finding mission committee to come here? Because a lot of people are saying that the price for missing (ph) the siege on Yasser Arafat was actually that this committee would not come, and so he will be faced with that.
Another thing is that there's a lot of destruction in Jenin refugee camp. Many of the homes there have been demolished, have been (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The U.N. estimates that there are about 3,000 people without homes there, and this is something Yasser Arafat has to address. He has to tell them, is he going to help them rebuild it, is he going to give them money, is he going to give them work? This is something that he has to face today as he meets with his own people from outside Ramallah for the first time in almost five months.
COSTELLO: All right. Rula Amin reporting live for us by phone this morning -- thank you.
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