Mid-East Realitieswww.middleeast.org

Arafat Threatens to Walk to Bethlehem - NewsFlash!

December 21, 2001

ARAFAT THREATENS TO WALK TO BETHLEHEM!

MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 12/21/2001: Not since the siege of Beirut, led by then Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon, has Yassir Arafat remained in the same place for so long. Now, in a siege of Ramallah, led by now Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Yassir Arafat has in effect been under town arrest for weeks, Israel tanks not far from his door, his orders clearly coming from those who have been providing him his arms and money, the U.S. and Israelis, enabling him thus to do their bidding.

Just a week ago now MER wrote of the urgent need for Arafat to "do a Gandhi". "Message to Arafat - Do a Gandhi, right now, before it's too late!" was the title of the MER article published last Friday at this time.

And it seems MER's impact is even greater than we imagined! Just a short time ago we just learned Yassir Arafat, under siege in Ramallah, half an hour drive from Bethlehem, in fact announced that if the Israelis don't let him go to Bethlehem on Christmas (presumably by armoured escort as his helicopters and regular means of travel have been destroyed) he is "going to walk" there.

Well...we'll see. Arafat's record of doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons in the right way is rather tarnished, to say the least.

From what we can tell so far, apparently the Arafat "threat" made no mention of either Gandhi or MER. More importantly, however, thank God it's wintertime and pretty chilly out there. We never meant to suggest Arafat should wear only a loin cloth and be so photoed for all the world to see...that's for sure!
Mid-East Realitieswww.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/12/517.htm