Arafat’s Statehood Vow Ignites War of Words

Lest anyone think the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was back on track, a new skirmish flared Sunday over Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s repetition of a vow to declare an independent state in May.

And this time, Arafat was reported to have said that Palestinian “guns are ready” to defend the new state, even as he appealed to Israelis to accept Palestinian independence as “a bridge for love and peace.”

The Israeli government--which itself repeatedly delayed approval of a U.S.-brokered peace deal and then attempted to place conditions on it last week--responded angrily and accused Arafat of “declaring war” on the process.

This latest dispute came as U.S. special envoy Dennis B. Ross, in Jerusalem, attempted to nudge the two sides closer to actually carrying out the interim peace accord signed Oct. 23 at the White House. Under the so-called Wye agreement, Israel is supposed to cede 13% more of the West Bank to Palestinian control in exchange for security guarantees from the Palestinians.

Additional steps scheduled to be taken in this crucial week of the agreement include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from a portion of the West Bank land that is being handed over; the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel; the opening of a Palestinian airport in the Gaza Strip; the establishment of a safe-passage route for Palestinians traveling from Gaza to the West Bank; and the arrest of 10 Palestinians wanted by Israel for murder.

The agreement also calls for both sides to refrain from “unilateral” actions.

But Arafat continues to announce his plan to unilaterally declare an independent Palestinian state when the original Oslo peace accord expires May 4, if the final negotiations it calls for between Israel and the Palestinians are not complete. And the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is threatening to respond by annexing large chunks of the West Bank.

In speeches Saturday and Sunday marking the 10th anniversary of the Palestinians’ original declaration of independence, Arafat vowed that he will never “retreat from the goal” of a sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital.

“The state of Palestine, which we are building, stone by stone, grasping its lands inch by inch . . . will be without doubt the state of all Palestinians,” Arafat said Sunday in a speech broadcast on Palestinian radio and television that was largely conciliatory to Israelis.

In separate comments at a meeting of his political movement, Fatah, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Arafat reportedly added that “our guns are ready and we will use them if they stop us from praying in Jerusalem.”

Three people who were present at the meeting confirmed to The Times the gist of the statement, which departed from a text that was released publicly.

A senior advisor to Netanyahu, David Bar-Illan, issued a statement accusing Arafat of “declaring war on the peace process.”

Further Israeli reaction, however, was muted, focusing only on the Palestinian state issue and not on the allusion to guns. Netanyahu, speaking after a Cabinet session, warned that for the Palestinians to declare a state with Jerusalem as its capital would “shatter” the peace agreement.

Jerusalem is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians, and its status is one of the most difficult issues to be resolved in final negotiations between the two sides.

It was not clear whether the weekend’s controversy would jeopardize the Wye agreement, which is meant to open the way to those final negotiations but which has been forced to weather Palestinian terrorist bombings, Israeli government delays and similar travails.