Arab League to freeze ties to Israel

Resolution a protest to Israel settlement plans

March 30, 1997
Web posted at: 9:30 p.m. EST

CAIRO (CNN) -- Arab League nations approved a resolution to freeze relations with Israel, a move intended as a protest against the Jewish nation's settlement polices.

The resolution, scheduled to be formally announced Monday, could signal increasingly strained relations between Israel and much of the Arab world.

It was approved Sunday after an emotional appeal by Yasser Arafat to punish Israel for plans to build a 6,500-unit housing project in disputed East Jerusalem, claimed by Palestinians as the capital of a future state.

"The Arab League recommends that all Arab countries which have established normal ties with Israel, to freeze relations until Israel agrees to implement its peace agreements with all Arab sides and stops violating the accords," the resolution said.

Egypt and Jordan appeared to be exempt from action because they have signed binding peace treaties with Israel.

"The draft was addressed to countries that have opened offices or sections in Israel in response to progress in the peace process," Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said.

Morocco, Tunisia, Oman and Quatar have made tentative gestures toward Israel since it reached its first agreement with the Palestinians 3 1/2 years ago.

Syria had called for an all-out suspension of relations with Israel, but the 22 Arab League members agreed to a watered-down resolution put forth by Egypt.

Arafat questions tanks

The diplomatic move came as Palestinians and Israeli soldiers clashed across the West Bank Sunday for an 11th straight day.

Arafat on Sunday questioned the positioning of Israeli tanks in the West Bank.

"Is this a declaration of war?" asked Arafat, attending a meeting of Arab ministers in Cairo. "What is it, if not a declaration of war?"

Israeli tanks and snipers were on standby throughout the West Bank Sunday, after a Palestinian student was killed by Israeli army gunfire during Saturday's rioting. Sunday also marked Land Day, the annual day of protests by Israeli Arabs against Israeli land confiscations.

Fearing greater violence because of the killing and the Land Day commemorations, Israeli army checkpoints and military bases near Palestinian towns were reinforced with additional troops.

Israel also moved tanks to positions overlooking the disputed Jewish housing settlement under construction in Arab East Jerusalem. Tanks have taken positions close to other Palestinian cities, though the Israelis say the move is only temporary.

Israel stationed a half-dozen talks outside Palestinian- controlled Nablus, where thousands of Palestinian protesters gathered near the Israeli-guarded Joseph's Tomb. Palestinian police fired bullets into the air, holding the protesters at bay, and the Israeli tanks did not move closer.

During rioting last fall, Palestinian police killed six Israeli soldiers guarding the tomb, where Jews believe the Biblical patriarch is buried.

Protesters burn flags

Also Sunday, the militant Islamic group Hamas and Arafat's Fatah faction held a rally at a Nablus soccer stadium, where protesters burned Israeli and American flags, a model of an Israeli tank, and an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At least 30 Arabs were injured by rubber bullets fired by Israeli soldiers trying to stop stone-throwing protesters in several West Bank locations. And thousands of mourners marched in a funeral procession for the first fatality of the current conflict.

Twenty-year-old Abdullah Khalil Sarawi, a Palestinian engineering student, was buried in his home village of Beit Sahour, next to the site -- known as Har Homa in Hebrew and Jabal Abu Ghneim in Arabic -- where Israel broke ground almost two weeks ago for the 6,500-home settlement. (1.1M/29 sec. QuickTime movie)

Mourners shouted that Israel would "pay in blood" for Sarawi's death as they carried his body through the streets of Beit Sahour.

Sarawi was killed Saturday during a protest on the outskirts of Ramallah. Palestinian officials said he was killed by live ammunition. Israeli officials said troops used only rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.

"To the best of our knowledge, to the best of our investigation, we did not use live ammunition," said Maj. Gen. Uzi Dayan.

Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers, Cairo Bureau Chief Gayle Young and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

Related stories:

• Netanyahu defends Jerusalem housing project - March 18, 1997
• U.N. condemns Israel's settlement plan - March 13, 1997
• Riots feared over Israeli housing plan in Jerusalem - February 26, 1997

Related sites:

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• State of Israel - Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles
• Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• ArabNet

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