President Yasser Arafat said the holding of the Palestinian Central Council meeting in the city of Ramallah on Thursday - January 9, is a Palestinian challenge to the occupation measures through holding this session with this group and this meeting in this besieged place. President Arafat addressed the 34 members of the PCC who were able to attend the meeting because of the checkpoints and the occupation siege on the Palestinian cities and villages: No one can prevent a Palestinian from moving north, east and west despite their ban on the PCC members. The PCC held an important meeting yesterday in the presence of the President at the Presidential Headquarters in the city of Ramallah to discuss the draft of the constitution of Palestine. The siege imposed by the Israeli army on the West Bank and Gaza Strip did not prevent the Council from convening with the members present in the city of Ramallah. He said in the meeting: I am asking the whole world with its Christians, Moslems, and free people, can they accept this? Can they accept banning the Palestinian people under 50 from reaching the Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; the occupation authorities are still seizing more than $2 billion from the tax funds and the siege continues but our people, the people of the brave, will remain steadfast and no one can defeat them. He continued: “We meet here in this presidential headquarter which is besieged and destroyed. Occupation insists on continuing with its siege on our cities, camps, and the aggression against our holy Christian and Islamic sites. What took place in Bethlehem and how it prohibited, during the two eastern and western Christmas, many Palestinians, Arabs and foreigners from having access to our homeland or to Bethlehem. For the second time, they prohibited me from participating in Christmas feasts. This is a blatant violation to international status quo, which was internationally approved in 1905. What is taking place around al-Quds al-Sharif of establishing the Berlin Wall is a touching issue. Here, I ask the entire world: Christians, Moslems and free people, do you accept that. Do they accept prohibiting the Palestinian people from having access to al-Haram al-Sharif and Church of the Holy Sepulcher? Until this moment, Israel does not realize the legitimate elections of Patriarch Irinios I. As you know, they prohibited Ministry of Waqf from fixing the southern wall of al-Haram al-Sharif. But I thank our brothers the Jordanians who sent a delegation to conduct this mission.
Meanwhile, our Central Council is not able to meet. They reach the point of rudeness where all VIP (holders) are prohibited from moving from one area to another or travel including the ban on our travel according to an invitation from the British Prime Minister Mr. Blair to meeting with him and Quartet in presence of the Egyptian, Saudi and Jordanian brothers. This problem still exists, we are trying to solve it, and we pray to God that we can solve it. We will not permit any person, regardless of its identity, to prohibit any Palestinian from moving north, east and west. We are even prohibited from leaving our cities.
Meanwhile, they do not talk about the map, or what was mentioned by US and the Quartet over paying our money. They keep on postponing. Our due money in taxes on cigarettes only reach more than 600 million shekels. Our people will continue to exercise steadfastness until the Date of Judgment. Nobody can shake, force them to kneel or even defeat them. These people form Steadfasting Mountains that are not shaken by this trivial wind. Who can stop in front of the tank with a holy Palestinian stone can give the answer to all of these challenges. It is regretful that our Council is not able to convene. Is this democracy to prohibit the meeting of the Central Council? They talk about the internationally prevented weapons but don’t they use gazes against our children including your brother Faisal (Husseini) who died of gas. They used depleted uranium. Two committees, one American and other European from Holland, have confirmed that depleted uranium is being used against the Palestinian people. Recently, they used explosive by torpedo, which weighs one ton as they said. They occupied our schools and converted them into military camps. There is the criminal Juadization that takes place in Hebron and al-Quds al-Sharif. This is our fate and we are exercising steadfastness."
Saleem Za'noun, PNC Speaker, said the drafting of the constitution is done with the assistance of Arab attorneys and the Arab League and the experts in constitutional law, explaining that 80 articles of the 120 articles are taken from the Basic Law which was ratified by the PLC. Meanwhile, Yasser Abed Rabbo presented to pose the draft of the constitution to the members of the council and the civil society institutions to discuss it. Saleem Za'noun agreed to the proposal and said that the draft will be distributed to the members whether in the West Bank or Gaza in preparation for the next meeting. Meanwhile, Dr. Saeb Erekat, Minister of Local Government, called on the whole world to interfere immediately to cancel all Israeli new and old measures and decisions against the Palestinian people and their national authority. This statement came in letters sent to the assistant of US Secretary of State William Burns, the EU Peace envoy Morathinos, the Russian envoy and the UN Representative Larsen and the ambassadors of the EU countries and the African and Asian countries and the countries in South America, Australia and Canada.
Published at Al Quds Newspaper on January 10, 2003.
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Palestine Central Council (PCC):
Established in 1973 as consultative body to the PLO Executive Committee; became a consultative and legislative body at the 20th Palestinian National Council(PNC) in 1991; membership is now elected form among members of the PNC (present: 95 members); meets regularly every six months and plays the role of the PNC when PNC is not in session.
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