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CNN Sunday Morning

Arafat Writes Op-Ed Piece Calling for New Negotiations

Aired February 03, 2002 - 08:11   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the crisis in the Middle East, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is sounding off in the crisis. Arafat wrote an op-ed piece in this morning's "New York Times." He writes -- and we quote him now -- "The Palestinian people have been denied their freedom for far too long and are the only people in the world still living under foreign occupation." Arafat asks, "How is it possible that the entire world can tolerate this oppression, discrimination and humiliation?"

Arafat also writes -- quoting once again -- "Palestinians are ready to end the conflict. We are ready to sit down now with any Israeli leader, regardless of his history, to negotiate freedom for the Palestinians, a complete end of the occupation, security for Israel and creative solutions to the plight of the refugees while respecting Israel's demographic concerns," end of quote.

For more on Arafat's written word, CNN's Rula Amin joins us live by phone from Ramallah in the West Bank -- Rula.

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, Yasser Arafat wrote this op-ed piece from his headquarters in Ramallah, where he has been confined for the last two months. He had been isolated physically and politically. On the ground, Israeli tanks are positioned less than 50 meters away from his office. Politically, he's under enormous pressure, especially from the United States, who has threatened to sever ties with him.

President Bush won't meet with him, so it seems Yasser Arafat is trying to reach the American public and U.S. officials, trying to tell them that he is the man to deal with. That his -- in his strategy, he is willing to make peace and he's willing to compromise. It was interesting enough that in this article he pointed to the issue of the return of Palestinian refugees. This is an issue that is a major concern for Israelis, because they see the return of these refugees as a major threat to the state of Israel.

And in his article, he said Palestinians have to be realistic in respect to Israel's demographic concerns. This is an indication from Yasser Arafat that he would be willing to compromise on this issue even, if the two sides get to sit on the peace table. Of course, Mr. Arafat has also been trying to make the case that the conflict is not actually about him personally. He's trying to point to the Israelis and to the Americans that even if he disappears, there is still a serious conflict there that needs to be resolved. Now we heard from Israeli officials, like (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- a spokesman for Mr. Sharon -- who said that this was a PR stunt. And he said Yasser Arafat cannot buy his way out of Ramallah by writing an article -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Rula, any further Israeli reaction at all?

AMIN: Not so far, because the Israelis -- this is a basic line that they have adopted, that this is a PR stunt. From the Palestinians, there is concern here. They're trying to reach the U.S. officials before Mr. Sharon gets to Washington on February 7th, where he's scheduled to meet with President Bush. The Palestinians are watching this meeting very anxiously. They are concerned that Mr. Sharon will try to get a green light from the U.S. in order to take further steps against the Palestinian leader and the Palestinian authority -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Rula Amin in Ramallah. We expect to have Israeli reaction in our next hour of our program live from Jerusalem. Thank you very much, Rula.

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