In its prime-time news round-up at 7 a.m., the Voice of Palestine ignored the meeting between Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres last night.

Instead, VOP continued to emphasize military confrontation with Israel inits headlines and interview subjects. VOP continued to extol martyrdom and steadfastness in fighting “Israeli crimes.”

VOP chose to emphasize the fact that Israel had held up PA negotiator Saeb Erikat’s departure from Jericho to the United States where he is slated to push for an international “protection force.”

Erikat,who was the featured morning interview guest declared that he would be pressing for an international tribunal to judge Israeli war criminals.

In a second interview, the PA’s Gaza security chief, Muhammad Dahalan, asserted repeatedly that the last few days proved that “Israel failed” to impose its version of the recent Camp David understandings on the Palestinians.

Through the first three hours of programming today, there was no call for Palestinian restraint or for parents to watch their children.

Headlines and Details

During the 8am news summary, the Arafat-Peres meeting was mentioned in one terse sentence in a low item in the morning line-up (see below for details) explaining briefly that the meeting was held to stop Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.

In the 9am bulletins in Hebrew, English and French, the Arafat-Peres meeting was the second item in the news line-up and was discussed more prominently, but again in the context of a cessation of Israeli aggression against Palestinians.

9 a.m. Headlines

  • “The masses of our people will give final honors to the six martyrs who fell before the bullets of the occupation forces(tne list of the martyrs);
  • In the confrontations yesterday about 170 citizens were wounded, eight of whom are considered in dangerous condition;
  • Israeli artillery shelling and fire continued through the late hours of the night, including populated areas in Al-Bireh, Beit Jallah, Beit Sahur, Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, al-Khader, the neighborhoods of AbuSneina and Tel Rumeida in Hebron, the Western approaches to Tulkarm.
  • President Yasser Arafat met last night with the Israeli Cooperation and Regional Development Minister Shimon Peres,and the meeting concentrated on stopping Israeli aggression against the sons of our people;
  • Fatah movement secretary Marwan Baghrouti clarified that the National and Islamic forces would NOT call today for a FULL strike in the West Bank and that the strike announced yesterday would encompass only Gaza;
  • Israeli tanks have withdrawn in the approaches of Gaza.
  • Settlers from Talmon which was built on Arab land near Ramallah and al-Bireh prevented citizens from picking olives.
  • Israeli authorities continuing closure of Gaza airport until tonight;
  • The 83rd anniversary of the dastardly Balfour Declaration under which Britain consented to the Zionist movement building a national home in Palestine for the Jews. And this accursed anniversary connects with the battle campaign of popular intifada by our people in defense of their land, their rights and their holy places and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with holy Jerusalem as its capital.”

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