Summary and analysis

The Voice of Palestine has given relatively little coverage to the Clinton-Arafat meeting Thursday afternoon beyond a recitation of Palestinian positions. There were no descriptions of the tone of conversations or of their content-beyond what Arafat said to Clinton.

The question remains: Is this a sign that the meeting, from the Palestinian standpoint, did not go well?

Morning Headlines, 8 a.m.

  • His excellency President Yasser Arafat discusses with Presient Bill Clinton in the White House a full range of subjects regarding the peace process and the continuing Israeli aggression against our people;
  • The great champion and martyr ‘Abayyat will be brought to rest in Bethlehem, the city of the Messiah, this afternoon;
  • The Palestinian Authority strongly condemns [yudeenoo] the loathsome assassination operation carried out by occupation helicopters against one of the commanders of the Fatah movement in Beit Sahur;
  • Jordan strongly condemns the Israeli escalation as unrighteous and dangerous to innocent Palestinian citizens;
  • The Minister of Cooperation estimates that the diplomatic moves of the Human Rights Commission in our country will lead to an international investigation of war crimes committed against our people;
  • Ministers from Islamic countries begin the second day of deliberation on the subject of Palestine.

11 a.m. Headlines (additional)

  • Israeli Broadcasting announced that two policemen from the occupying forces in the streets of the city were injured in an explosion in occupied Jerusalem;
  • The Qatari foreign minister announced that his country had closed its trade mission with Israel, and he criticized the United States for tilting in Israel’s favor.

1 p.m. News (includes live coverage from funerals)

Headlines

  • Worshipers at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque raise the Palestinian flag atop the holy shrine of the Dome of the Rock;
  • Bethlehem accompanies the martyr Hussein ‘Abbayat to final rest while Gaza pays homage to martyr Mahmoud Shuraab;
  • Confrontations renewed in Qalqilya, Jenin and Hebron;
  • President Yasser Arafat discusses with President Bill Clinton the stationing of an international force for protecting our people.

Quote of the Day

“The Cabinet Secretary of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Hassan Abdul-Rahman, in a statement issued yesterday, said this assassination was a dangerous escalation taken by the Israeli government and its military command and a new step in the direction of state terrorism practiced by the Israeli army against our people and its strugglers, and placing the responsibility for the consequences of these actions on Israel.”