Frustrated Arafat Publicly Packs Pistol for First Time in Years
Yasser Arafat displayed a holstered pistol Monday-- the first time he has shown a weapon in public since returning from exile in 1994, and reviving memories of the day more than a quarter of a century ago that he told a U.N. assembly that he was carrying a gun.
The Palestinian leader said the gesture was an expression of anger over the blocking of a key road by Jewish settlers. The settlers’ demonstration delayed his drive back to his Gaza City office after a trip to Arab countries.
More broadly, the display of the weapon reflected the deteriorating relations between Israel and the Palestinians after more than two months of clashes in which almost 300 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed.
The settlers were protesting a decision by the Israeli military to allow a resumption of Palestinian traffic on a road that was closed to Palestinians two weeks ago after a deadly bomb attack on a school bus.
Arafat caused an uproar Nov. 13, 1974, by saying he had a gun in his holster at the United Nations General Assembly.
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