A taped speech attributed to Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat has the potential to derail entirely the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
That is what Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told reporters Tuesday after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who was in the Middle East on his second attempt this month to restart the long-stalled Israeli-Syrian negotiations.
A tape of the speech, which Arafat report edly made in a South African mosque last week, was broadcast Tuesday on Israel Radio. It called upon the Arab world to enter upon a “jihad,” or holy war, to gain control of Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem is not for the Palestinian people, it is for all the Muslim people,” a voice sounding like Arafat’s said. “Our main battle is Jerusalem.”
The speech purportedly was made by Arafat during a visit last week to South Africa, where he attended the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela. The speech was made during a closed meeting in a mosque, but a tape of it was sent to Israel Radio by a local Jewish resident.
Rabin said that if Arafat had indeed made the speech, it “would put a question mark over the continuation of the peace process between us and the Palestinians.”
The prime minister added that the comments, if they were Arafat’s, would represent a “serious violation” of written agreements exchanged between Israel and the PLO that led the way to the signing of the self-rule accord last September in Washington.
The speech also included the claim that Arafat had received written assurances in a letter from Rabin that the status of Jerusalem would be open for discussion between Israel and the Palestinians within three years after the signing of the autonomy implementation accord this month in Cairo. Rabin denied that he had ever given Arafat such a letter.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said that he had been “horrified” by the speech. It would not pass unanswered, he vowed.
The foreign minister was scheduled to travel Wednesday to Oslo, where he was due to meet with Arafat. He said he would ask the PLO leader for a clarification of the remarks.
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