US veto of UN resolution on Israel “black day”; Protests erupted

By: Ahmad Hammadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank: While Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Wednesday has ignored a US veto of a UN resolution demanding that Israel retract its threat to remove him, other Palestinian officials said Israel could see the American move as a license to kill Arafat, Nobel Peace Laureate.

The United States move has angered the Arab world.

Speaking to a delegation of Palestinian intellectuals and artists at his Ramallah compound, Arafat said: “We are not shaken by a resolution from one place or another… We are more important than any resolution.”

After Tuesday's Security Council vote in New York, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said: “It's a black day for the United Nations and for international law.”

Meanwhile, an estimated 6,000 Palestinians and Lebanese demonstrators protested Wednesday in south Lebanon against the US veto.

“Shame on America ... We are with you Arafat,” chanted the protestors.

END