Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said Saturday that "we are defending not only ourselves but also our holy Christian and Islamic shrines in the Land of steadfastness."
Addressing a mass rally, in his besieged headquarters in Ramallah, which came to pledge support for their leader in the wake of Israeli PM Ariel Sharon's latest threat on his life, Arafat said that the entire world knows that the Palestinian people are defending the Christian and Islamic holy sanctuaries.
"We say to Sharon: 'O Mountain, no wind can ever shake you'."
The demonstrators were shouting slogans in support of Arafat, denouncing Sharon's policy against the Palestinian people and Arafat.
Earlier, the Palestinian government called on UN Security Council for an immediate procedures to prevent the Israeli PM Ariel Sharon from threatening the life of Yasser Arafat.
In a statement, issued early on Saturday, it said that such "insane" steps will lead to a total collapse of security and unprecedented escalation of violence.
"No doubt that such step will end all hopes of peace and launch new cycle of indiscriminate violence," the statement, cited by WAFA said.
"The Palestinian Government believes that the US endorsement and unflinching support for Israel is the main reason of the Israeli rudeness, particularly Sharon's threats to harm the democratically elected President Arafat," the statement added.
"Carrying out Sharon's threats would create a genuine catastrophe," it added.
The Palestinian government also urged the concerned countries to seriously take the Israeli threats into consideration and to immediately intervene to stop the "Israeli madness" which will target the symbol Leader Yasser Arafat. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
