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JENIN, May 13: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s West Bank tour, his first trip out of Ramallah after the end of the Israeli siege, turned sour on Monday when he was forced to cancel a visit to the city’s refugee camp, where inhabitants idealise hardliners fighting Israeli occupation.
An Arafat aide cited security reasons for scrapping plans to visit the camp. Thousands had gathered to await him on the rubble left by Israeli bombardments during a major offensive across the West Bank last month.
But in an ominous sign for Arafat, a stage from which he was to speak was mysteriously burned shortly before he set out on his first tour of the West Bank since the end of a 35-day siege of his headquarters in Ramallah.
Many in the camp said their main allegiance was to guerillas such as Mahmoud Tawalbe, head of the local military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement who was killed in fierce fighting with Israeli troops.
“Our leader is Mahmoud Tawalbe, not Arafat,” said Abdul-Karim Sa’adi, 17, standing on a huge pile of rubble and twisted metal — all that was left of houses destroyed at the heart of the refugee camp.
Rejecting Arafat’s call on hardline groups to stop attacks against Israeli civilians, Sa’adi said: “We approve of his policies in general but not his decision to put pressure on us to stop operating in Israel.”
Other inhabitants spoke of their frustration at what they called an absence of reform in Arafat’s Palestinian Authority and said he had stayed away for fear the people would turn against him.
“People are disappointed that there has been no reform to make our life better. There should be radical reforms here,” said Mohammed Awad Jamal, 24, pouring coffee in his busy roadside cafe.
“Arafat is afraid the people will be furious with him. Until now he has carried out no reforms,” said a 30-year-old man after waiting in the burning sun to see the Palestinian leader. He declined to give his name.
Palestinian calls for reform echo those voiced by Israel and the United States after the end of Israel’s offensive in the West Bank.
The United States has said Palestinians deserve better leadership. Israel has made reforms a precondition for resuming peacemaking shattered by more than 19 months of violence.
GRIEVANCES: Anger in the camp was also directed at Arafat’s security forces, which residents said abandoned them during the Israeli assault that followed Palestinian suicide attacks in Israel.
Criticism of Arafat was perhaps harsher in Jenin than in other parts of the West Bank. Arafat received a warm welcome when he visited the Jenin municipality and vowed to continue the struggle for an independent Palestinian state.
“To Jerusalem we are going, even if there are millions of martyrs,” the crowd chanted back at him.
Palestinians have charged that Israel carried out massacres in the refugee camp. Human rights groups reported they found no such evidence but said Israeli troops may have committed “war crimes” in the camp where at least 54 Palestinians were killed.
Israel said the destruction of the camp centre was the result of heavy fighting in which 23 soldiers were killed, while Palestinians say it was the result of wanton bulldozing by the army without military purpose.
“We’re very glad (Arafat) came to visit us. It shows we were on his mind through all the difficult times,” said Elham Mahamid Kabahah, 34, widow of a Palestinian policeman who was killed after Israel occupied the camp.
But she added: “He should have come to the refugee camp to see the families of those who suffered and were killed.
“He should change the whole leadership around him, bring in people who are capable of helping us. We don’t need people who are irresponsible and corrupt.”—Reuters
