Arafat juggles support for intifada and world opinion

By Ezzedine Said

JERUSALEM (AFP): After almost seven months of blazing violence, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place -- trying not to lose the support of the Palestinian street by vowing to pursue the intifada without alienating himself on the international scene.

Israel has repeatedly pointed the finger of blame for the continuing bloodshed at Arafat, and said Sunday after a suicide attack that killed the bomber and an Israeli doctor that his Palestinian Authority bore "full responsibility" for such acts.

"Yasser Arafat cannot give up on the peace process because he would lose on the diplomatic front and alienate himself from the international community, nor can he distance himself from the intifada," said Palestinian analyst Ghassan al-Khatib of the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre (JMCC).

"He is trying to juggle both options, which puts him in a difficult situation," he added.

"His international standing has deteriorated but he is more popular at home because of his positions in support of the intifada," added Khatib, whose organization published a poll this month showing that four out of five Palestinians supported the uprising.

The Palestinian Authority rejected Israel's accusations following the bombing in the town of Kfar Saba, which is located not far from the West Bank and has been the subject of several similar attacks.

"The Palestinian National Authority reaffirms its rejection of any attacks against innocent civilians regardless of the source of the attack," a Palestinian Authority spokesman said in a statement.

"It has to be reiterated also that the continuation of siege, pressure, and collective punishment against the Palestinian people leads to despair, and despair leads to escalation in violence," the statement said.

Elected by a landslide in February by Israelis demanding a tougher riposte to the Palestinian uprising, hardline Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is adamant that he will not resume peace negotiations until there is a halt to violence.

More than 480 people have been killed, most of them Palestinian, since the violence was unleashed in late September following a controversial visit by Sharon -- then opposition leader -- to a hotly contested holy site in Jerusalem.

Palestinian officials said Arafat last week ordered a halt to Palestinian mortar fire which had triggered a wave of fierce Israeli onslaughts against the Gaza Strip, including the temporary reoccupation of a block of Palestinian-ruled land.

But several times during the uprising against the 34-year Israeli occupation, he has vowed that the struggle would continue until "Palestinian flags are flying over Jerusalem."

And the bomb blast occurred only hours after top security officials from the two sides met for the first time in 10 days at a U.S.-hosted meeting to try to bring a halt to the unrest.

"The full responsibility on what's happening lies with the Palestinian Authority and with their security forces," Sharon's spokesman Raanan Gissin told AFP.

"They are supposed to stop terrorist activity. And what happened, not only don't they stop terrorist activity, they are now aiding and abetting and supporting the terrorist activity," he added.

And Gissin said he did not believe Arafat had given the order to stop firing.

"There is definitely no indication that on the ground, in the territories, the order has been issued by Arafat and that steps have been taken to stop these terrorist activities."

A poll published by the JMCC earlier this month found that more than 80 percent of the Palestinians support the continuation of the intifada, despite the harsh economic and social costs, up from 70 percent in December.

And more than half of the Palestinian population "strongly supported" suicide bombings, the poll found.

Hamas, the radical Palestinian movement behind numerous deadly attacks, said Sunday's bombing was an act of self-defense but stopped short of claiming responsibility.

"This is a part of the bloody chain of events the Israeli occupation has imposed on the region," Hamas's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin told reporters.