Palestinian President Yasser Arafat told Arab information ministers in Cairo that Israel was trying to build a temple on a disputed holy site in Jerusalem, as part of its efforts to strengthen its grip on the ancient city, said AFP.
Arafat told a closed-door meeting of Arab information ministers that Israel "has plans to ... pursue its project to construct a third Jewish temple," said an official who attended the meeting.
"The Palestinian people will remain united until the Palestinian flag is hoisted over Jerusalem," Arafat was quoted as saying.
A tour of the site by then Israeli hardline opposition leader and now prime minister Ariel Sharon in late September sparked the Palestinian uprising, now in its 11th month. The revolt is rooted, however, in 34 years of Israeli military occupation, with its attendant poverty and daily humiliations at the hands of occupation soldiers.
Arafat reported on the present situation on the ground after Israel's Friday closure of Orient House, the unofficial Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters for east Jerusalem.
Israel's move came in reprisal for a suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed 15, plus the bomber, last Thursday.
Arafat advised the ministers on foiling any plans for the United States to move its embassy to the holy city from Tel Aviv.
The international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and it was not part of the original UN mandate for the creation of the Jewish state. Instead, it was seized by Israeli soldiers in 1967.
Arafat was to also meet Arab League chief Amr Moussa, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Jordan's diplomatic chief, Ahmed Maher, on efforts to obtain a UN observer force for the West Bank and Gaza Strip
Member states of the Arab League were meeting to assess their media strategy over the uprising.
The meeting is attended by Moussa, 14 ministers and 8 representatives from the Arab countries in addition to Arafat, said the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The extraordinary meeting was proposed by Ghazi Al Aridi, the Lebanese minister of information and current chairman of the council of Arab information ministers, in a message sent to Moussa earlier this week.
In his opening speech, Aridi called on Arab information ministers to examine ways of dealing with the political, security and media dangers that face the Palestinian Intifada, SPA quoted him as saying.
He emphasized the necessity of targeting Western public opinion and decision makers – Albawaba.com
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