Nazir Majally, Asharq Al-Awsat

GAZA CITY, 24 September 2003 — Yasser Arafat accused Washington of encouraging Israeli “crimes” against his people yesterday as US President George W. Bush said the Palestinian people’s cause had been betrayed by their veteran leader.

“The (Israeli) occupiers and the settlers are making the mistake of denying the existence of our people,” Arafat said in a telephone address to Palestinian deputies gathered in Gaza City.

“Because of the arrogance of the force which is blindly supported and followed by certain powers, they are committing crimes against our people, our towns, our villages our (refugee) camps and our infrastructure,” he said in an implicit reference to the United States.

His broadside came ahead of a speech by Bush to the United Nations General Assembly in which he called for the Palestinians to follow Iraq in developing democratic institutions, saying their cause had been “betrayed” by Arafat.

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old Islamic Jihad militant was shot dead near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip after a gunfight with Israeli forces.

Three Palestinians were also wounded late yesterday by Israeli gunfire in Kfar Malek village near the West Bank town of Ramallah after a protest against the destruction of a militant’s home.