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American Morning

Can Yasser Arafat Show He Is Taking Action Against Terrorism?

Aired December 03, 2001 - 08:10   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back now to the crisis in the Middle East. The weekend suicide bombings that left more than two dozen people dead and scores injured. Can Yasser Arafat show he is taking action against terrorism and can he get the job done? Well in the last hour we asked that question of former Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: I think Arafat has very short time - very, very short indeed to show that he's actually taking action against these terrorists that are not there just by accident and that he's sponsoring suicide kindergarten camps for God's sake, to prepare the next generation of suicide bombers.

He's not using one of the 50,000 rifles that he received to fight terrorists to do anything to these terrorists. Their officers are all over the place. His own forces that report directly to him also participate in 50 percent of the terrorist attacks. So he's got to choose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And joining us now from Rabalay in the West Bank Palestinian legislator Hanan Arshori. Welcome back. Can you hear me Hanan ? I just wanted to make sure. I saw you touch your earpiece.

HANAN ARSHORI, WEST BANK PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: Thank you. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

ARSHORI: No, I can hear you Paula. I'm fine.

ZAHN: Are Yasser Arafat's days numbered as Benjamin Netanyahu suggested earlier this morning?

ARSHORI: Well I think there's a certain degree of arrogance to assume that the Israelis decide on the fate of the Palestinian leaders as well as Palestinian reality. Yasser Arafat has been elected by the Palestinian people and that's the source of his legitimacy. Not rather (INAUDIBLE) anybody else decides that they can give him a seal of approval or not.

That question that Yasser Arafat is maneuvering in a mine field, it's a very difficult situation with Israel on the one hand creating a situation of crisis besieging the Palestinians killing anywhere between five and 10 Palestinian men, women and children everyday. And on the other hand, there's an internal state of emergency declared openly with of course a serious situation whereby Palestinians feel that they have to deliver, they have to maintain self-control despite the fact that the occupation does not.

ZAHN: Let's talk about this internal state of emergency. Would you describe that as a civil war among Palestinians?

ARSHORI: No, I wouldn't describe it - describe it as a civil war, and I hope we do not fall into that trap of a civil war, of using guns against each other. I think basically there is a situation which has been described legally as a state of emergency, which means that many of the civil liberties have been curtailed. That there are nobody is allowed to carry weapons outside the security forces, that there are no protests and demonstrations without permits.

And that people can be arrested without sufficient evidence (INAUDIBLE) suspicion and (INAUDIBLE) the military courts will take over. It's similar as to everywhere else in the world, however, this is happening to a people who are already under occupation and who already are seeing their livelihoods destroyed - their crops destroyed, their lives destroyed and who are going to funerals everyday.

(CROSSTALK)

ARSHORI: Five, 10, 15 funerals a day, which I'm not...

(CROSSTALK)

ARSHORI: ... dramatic on CNN, but they are there.

ZAHN: What have the Palestinians gained from the intifada ? What have they gained from the weekend attacks?

ARSHORI: Nothing. I think that the weekend attacks, any civilian, any attack against any civilian regardless of nationality is totally morally appalling and should not be condoned by anybody. And therefore, we should not put two systems of values that Palestinian lives are worthless and are worth much less than Israeli lives. And therefore, when Palestinians are killed, nobody pays attention and then it becomes a crisis when the Israelis are killed and that's equally appalling. And at the same time, there is a situation of occupation, which nobody is dealing with. These...

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: All right, so let's not talk about occupation today because that is ancient history. You and I have talked about that for many, many weeks. The question is...

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: ... everybody's moving ahead in this process. (CROSSTALK)

` ZAHN: ... the question - but the critical question being asked this morning is can Yasser Arafat stop the violence among his people. What do you think?

ARSHORI: He's - yes, I think he can. He did this before (INAUDIBLE) two weeks. We had two weeks of calm until Sharon decided to start and to escalate the policy of assassinations and killing including children, including political leadership. That is like an invitation for revenge. That is what locked us in the cycle of vengeance, which (INAUDIBLE) for both sides.

So the question is that is equal responsibility on both sides and more also on the occupied. It is not old history. Even President Bush said - Secretary Powell said that this is a state of occupation and that it has to end. And therefore I'm not justifying any act of violence. I'm telling you it should stop on both sides. The thing is you can not put the (INAUDIBLE) on people who are living (INAUDIBLE). The land is segmented. People can not move from one city from one town to the other.

And when Arafat arrested people earlier, this isn't (INAUDIBLE) with F-16s. The thing is we need to have a code - a code of behavior that will govern both sides and that wouldn't put the Palestinians in a situation where they are asked to self destruct internally as well.

ZAHN: All right Hanan. I'm up against a commercial break. I need a brief answer to this one. As you know, there are reports that seven members of the Israeli cabinet are actually suggesting the idea - or suggesting the idea of trying to topple Yasser Arafat. You say it is arrogant for Israelis to talk about the future of the leadership of the Palestinian cause. But the fact remains you have tremendous pressure on you now, from all sides including the United States to stop the violence.

ARSHORI: Absolutely. And I think that anybody who thinks that he or she can topple any elected leadership is standing on very dangerous grounds indeed. Too, I think that there are requirements that are expected of both sides. Israel has to refrain from provoking Palestinians, driving them to desperation. This is what feeds violence and fees the cycle of revenge. I think (INAUDIBLE) of voices should prevail and we should introduce a logic that works. The logic of peacemaking that is not based on power or violence.

ZAHN: And we look forward to having you back in the weeks to come as we see how these negotiations transpire between U.S. representatives Israeli - representatives and Palestinians. Thank you for your time this morning.

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