Arafat Attacks Israel at U.N. Rights Meeting, Triggering a U.S. Walkout
The United States walked out of a U.N. human rights meeting Friday when Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat attacked Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip that have left at least 55 Palestinians dead.
All other members of the Western group sat through the address, in which Arafat denounced Israeli policies in the occupied territories and called for a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital.
“With every passing day, the Israeli government innovates more brutal, more oppressive and more criminal ways and methods,” he told the 40-member U.N. Human Rights Commission.
“The Israeli government gives free rein to armed fanatic gangs of settlers in the occupied territories, under the protection and with the participation of the army,” the PLO chairman added.
An “international force” is needed to protect Palestinians from a “terrorist and racist enemy” and to ensure the creation of an independent Palestinian state, he said.
The Israeli delegation stayed away from the morning session at which Arafat spoke.
“The true aim of the PLO continues to be, and always has been, the destruction of Israel,” Israeli Ambassador Pinhas Eliav said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
