You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

As Washington Steps Up Its Efforts to Force Arafat From Office, a Conversation with Palestinian National Council Member Hanan Ashrawi and Peace Activist Rami Elhanan, Whose Daughter Was Killed in a 19

Related

    The Bush Administration continued this weekend to call for Yasser Arafat’s removal from office, warning Palestinians they would cloud their prospects for nationhood if they re-elected Arafat in January elections. Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington is no longer talking to the Palestinian leader. Asked if the United States would resume contacts with Arafat, Powell said: “I don’t expect so.’’

    Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press to say Washington would end any financial support of Arafat’s Palestinian Authority if he remains in power. She said: “We are not trying to pick the leadership of the Palestinian people, but we are saying that there are consequences.”

    Rice and Powell’s statements followed just days after President Bush delivered a speech calling for Arafat’s removal from office. Bush did not mention Arafat by name in the speech but said the Palestinians must have new and different leaders before a process could begin that would lead to a state, possibly within three years.

    The United States appears nearly alone internationally in its position that Arafat must go.

    Guest:

    • Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian Legislative Council, speaking from her home in Ramallah, where she is under curfew.

    Contact:

    Guest:

    • Rami Elhanan, father of Smadar Elhanan, who was murdered by a suicide bomber on September 4, 1997. She was 14 years old. Rami Elhanan was the lead speaker at a Peace Now rally last week.

    Contact:

    Links:

    Related Story

    StorySep 30, 2024Gideon Levy: “Israel’s Barbaric Glee over Nasrallah’s Assassination Is a New Low for Israeli Society”
    The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

    Non-commercial news needs your support

    We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
    Please do your part today.
    Make a donation
    Top