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American Morning
Arafat Says He is Ready to Live Alongside Israel in Peace
Aired May 13, 2002 - 09:04 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: "Up Front" this morning, though, surging crowds force Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to be whisked away from a hall in the West Bank town of Jenin, where he had been scheduled to make a speech. Arafat went to Jenin after visiting Bethlehem stops on the first tour of the West Bank he has made since Israeli forces lifted the siege of his compound on May 2.
Arafat gave an exclusive interview to Wolf Blitzer, in which he said he will accept an Israeli state. And Wolf joins us now from Jerusalem with more on that -- good morning, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Paula.
It took a while for me to get it out of the Palestinian leader, but he eventually did say very directly, very bluntly that Palestine, a new Palestinian state that he would be the leader of, would be prepared to live in peace and security alongside a Jewish state called Israel. The Palestinian leader was forceful in trying to make that point, seeking to underscore his commitment to peace.
Listen to this excerpt...
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YASSER ARAFAT, PALESTINIAN LEADER: ...accepting two states beside each other...
BLITZER: One state Palestine...
ARAFAT: And one, Israeli state.
BLITZER: Will that Israeli state be a Jewish state?
ARAFAT: Not (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in our area. Not to forget that a part of the Jews are Palestinians, and they are representing in our legislative council.
BLITZER: Because Israelis are afraid...
ARAFAT: You forgot that this is the Terrasanta.
BLITZER: The holy land.
ARAFAT: Yes. And we have Jews, we have Christians, we have Muslims.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: He was insistent that he did not endorse, did not support terrorism. In fact, he repeatedly said he condemns terrorism, has condemned every suicide action against Israeli civilians. Though when I pressed him repeatedly about involvement of some associated with his own Fatah movement, he claimed he knew nothing about that. That they were investigating; that he was doing everything he possibly could do to try to fight terrorism.
He also insisted he had nothing to do with that arms shipment from Iran, the Karine-A ship that the Israelis intercepted. He did go out of his way to praise the United States, the Bush administration, and he spoke personally about President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARAFAT: He is an active -- very active. In this very short time, he became very active not only in the States, all over the world.
BLITZER: So far, he refuses to meet with you.
ARAFAT: No, that's something different. No, but I have made -- I am in a permanent contact with him on the phone and with letters and the last time I ...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Is he a fair man? Do you have confidence in President Bush?
ARAFAT: No doubt. No doubt. Not to forget what he has done in Afghanistan. He fulfilled it. And what he had mentioned before that in the general assembly -- I was there in the general assembly, when he say "independent Palestinian state."
BLITZER: He's the first president to do so.
ARAFAT: Yes.
BLITZER: The first U.S. president.
ARAFAT: And for this I am sending to him through you, again, as I have sent it before, my thanks from my heart.
BLITZER: What he really...
ARAFAT: For him and the whole American people who are supporting us in different ways.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: When I told him that the president really wants Yasser Arafat to back up his words with actions, he's more interested in deeds than just positive statements, Arafat insisted he was engaged in deeds. He said, in fact, the last few days he's picked up, arrested a couple dozen Hamas leaders -- mid-level leaders -- in Gaza itself. Although there is a sense of relief among the Palestinians, Paula, that the Israelis, at least for the time being, have called off their earlier planned incursion into Gaza -- Paula.
ZAHN: You know, Wolf, I was really fascinated by the tone of this interview. It seemed to lack the defiance that we have seen in recent weeks, even when you pressed him on the question of the Israelis having document that essentially, in their judgment, proved that Yasser Arafat was behind financially the Karine-A mission. What was different this time when you spoke to him? Because I know you've also spoken with him before.
BLITZER: Well, you know, he was animated, he was feisty. When I gave him that book -- that 100-page document that the Israelis put together -- I said, "Look, your signature is on these documents," he grabbed the book and he through it across this little room, where our camera crews had set up to interview him. At that point, I thought he might throw me out of the room, because in the past he's done that with television reporters when pressed on tough questions like that.
Instead, he decided to face the issues and address them and deny any knowledge, any involvement. He said he was proud of the signatures on some of those documents because he, as leader of the Palestinian Authority, was handing out money to -- in his words, martyrs, people who had struggled to fight for a future Palestine. Although he differentiates between the martyrs and the suicide bombers, if you will. He says those attacks against Israeli civilians and will try to do something about.
All of this was taking place, as you know, Paula, just as the Likud party, Israel's ruling party of Prime Minister Sharon, dealt the prime minister a major setback because they endorsed a resolution supported by his rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposed forever a Palestinian state in the West Bank.
ZAHN: And you were doing the interview at about that same time?
BLITZER: We were doing it exactly the same time. We drove in the middle of the night -- midnight or so local time -- to Ramallah, just as the Likud was having their final votes on that that very, very acrimonious session. If you saw any of the pictures, they got down at that Likud central committee meeting. It got pretty tough.
ZAHN: And Saeb Erakat, Mr. Arafat's chief negotiator, said in the paper this morning that was a great slap in the face to President Bush as well.
We're going to leave it there at this hour -- Wolf Blitzer, thanks.
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