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American Morning

As Israeli Military Marches in West Bank, Arafat Remains Virtual Prisoner in His Compound

Aired April 03, 2002 - 08:51   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: As the Israeli military marches on in the West Bank, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remains a virtual prisoner in his Ramallah compound.

Well, yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered Arafat a way out, a trip into exile.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: First of all, I will say three things. One, I first have to bring it to the cabinet to be approved. Second, he cannot take anyone with him, because they're wanted and murders surround him there, and the third thing, they are going to be a one-way ticket, will not be able to return.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Well, of course, Arafat said no way, he said he'd rather die than be exiled, and his Palestinian supporters reacted with anger to Sharon's suggestion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: This is the epitome of arrogance, of racism, of power politics. It seems to me Sharon is on the verge of carried out policies of insanity. How can he? Arafat is a person who has been elected by his people as president of the P.A. It's not up to Sharon either to imprison him, to hold him hostage, to terrorize him, to try to humiliate him, or to try to send him into exile.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Can Sharon and Arafat ever find a path to peace, or has the conflict simply become too personal?

Joining us from Washington, Democrat political strategist Bob Beckel, and Cliff May, former RNC communications director, now with the foundation for the defense for democracy.

Welcome, gentlemen. Good to see you.

Given these men's personal history, can they ever deliver peace? CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I don't think they can do more than have a cease-fire, if that. The personal animosity is clearly deep. But I don't think, Paula, that's what is at the root of the struggle. Don't forget, the Israelis have been dealing with Arafat since the 1970s, when he was involved in skyjackings, an attempt to overthrow the king of Jordan, the murder of two American diplomats, and one prime minister after another, not just Sharon, every one, has tried to get along with Arafat and make a deal with him, and thought, maybe he's reformed, he's no longer a terrorists, no longer wants to destroy the entire state of Israel. Everyone's failed.

Keep in mind, Barak, just 18 months ago, at Camp David with Clinton, said, I'll give you everything you wanted, independent state, in the territory, capital in Jerusalem. Arafat said no, launched the terrorist attacks that continue to this day, and you know, he still wants to destroy the entire state of Israel. That's his dream.

ZAHN: All right, let's let Bob weigh in here. Cliff has essentially said no one can do business with Yasser Arafat. Do you agree?

BOB BECKEL, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL STRATEGIST: No, I don't agree. And I'll tell you, one of the reasons that I think Sharon has decided to try to exile Arafat, is that he's worried that somebody's going to kill him, and the last thing Ariel Sharon wants is to have Arafat as a martyr. The other thing about exile, though, is that he can run his terrorism campaign from someplace else.

Having said that, there's an old saw in the history books about war, only the generals that fight the wars can really bring about the peace. And I think, if you ever had, ever possibly could have, an arrangement where Arafat and Sharon, the two of them would agree on something, I think everybody would accept it, because nobody but nobody would think it was based on friendship.

MAY: There's some merit to what Bob's saying. I just don't think Arafat yet -- and maybe this will change, has given up the dream of destroying all of Israel, every inch. Keep in mind that Arafat is in the territories now because they were given to him. He came there in 1994, brought there by the Israelis from exile in a land-for-peace agreement. The Israelis said, we'll put you in the West Bank, establish an authority, give you weapons, you give us peace in exchange. He got the land, he never game the Israelis the peace, which is why the Israelis are back in those territories right now. They'll give the territories up, if they get real peace, which they don't believe they're going to get from Arafat.

ZAHN: We only have time now left for 20 seconds of peace here. Let me move you on to the issue of American policy here, Bob. You've heard what those demonstrators in Beirut have been doing. They say this is a failure, what's going on in Israel is a failure of American policy. You even have people like Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former American national security adviser, saying that a lot of the violence you've been saying today is the result of just that. What do you think? BECKEL: Well, Zbigniew is a colleague of mine in the Carter White House.

ZAHN: We won't hold that against you.

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: I know he won't, and don't mention it to him, will you?

But the point is that the Bush administration, when all is said and done here, with all his popularity, this is a president that stood on the sidelines, was afraid to get engaged in the Mideast, and did not use American diplomats, which is the only thing really that has any leverage in the Middle East. I don't think the intifada is a result of George Bush's inaction, but it is almost beyond comprehension that such a smart national security team, secretary of state, Dick Cheney; all these things were hard about these massively experienced people, could have blown it as badly as they've blown it, and they've blown it.

MAY: I'll say this real quick, American foreign policy has failed in the Middle East for more than 20 years, not for want of trying. The reason it's failed is...

BECKEL: You got to try, that's the point.

MAY: ... after Oslo, there was more violence, rather than less. Camp David was a good experiment, but it failed. What we know is, until Arafat gives up his dream of destroying Israel, you can not have peace in the Middle East.

BECKEL: You're going to cover for Bush on anything, aren't you? That's what I love about you, Cliff, you're going to just cover for the guy.

ZAHN: Like you didn't play lap dog for Democratic demonstrations, come on, come on.

(CROSSTALK)

MAY: He would blame the death of disco on George Bush, if he could.

BECKEL: As a matter of fact, that's true.

MAY: It's not Clinton's fault; it's not Bush's fault.

BECKEL: We're going to have to leave it there this morning. Gentlemen, thanks for both of your perspectives. Look forward to seeing you later on this week.

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