Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has vowed to continue the uprising against Israel, at an Arab summit that toiled to find a way to condemn the Jewish state, while salvaging the peace process. His comments on Saturday, appeared to be in total contrast to the US-brokered truce with Israel made four days ago at the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit in Egypt which aimed at ending three weeks of Israeli-Palestinian clashes that have left over 120 people dead. But the Palestinians later tempered their statements, with Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo saying Arafat meant that peaceful demonstrations would continue to express rage against Israeli occupation.
Abed Rabbo said that the violence had only erupted due to excessive Israeli army action condemned late on Friday by the United Nations General Assembly, turning the tables on Israel which has put the onus on Arafat to end the violence.
Arafat, wearing his usual khakhi battledress and black-and-white checkered headdress, earlier told Egyptian television: “The uprising will continue and it will win.”
There was no immediate Israeli reaction to his television statement, but an Israeli government spokesman slammed Arafat's speech at the summit opening as provocative and proof that he was little interested in peace.
“It looks now very clear that Arafat is not going to implement the Sharm El-Sheikh agreement,” Spokesman Nachman Shai told the press in Jerusalem.

Bureau Report