FATAH WEBSITE CALLS FOR ISRAEL'S DESTRUCTION

Israel Line 10 August 1998

As Israel negotiates with the Palestinians to change their Covenant, an Internet website of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement has released a constitution that calls for Israel's destruction, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The website, www.fateh.org, does not distinguish between Israel and the territories captured in the 1967 Six Day War. The constitution calls the Zionist movement "racial, colonial and aggressive in ideology, goals, organization and method." The site continues by labeling Israel as "a Zionist invasion with a colonial expansive base," and "a natural ally to colonialism and international imperialism." Calling for a "complete liberation of Palestine and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence," the constitution asserts that "armed public revolution is the inevitable method for liberating Palestine." The constitution does not mention the Oslo Accords, supported by Fatah, but says it opposes any "political solution offered as an alternative to demolishing the Zionist occupation in Palestine." David Bar-Ilan, Director of Policy Planning for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said, "This is as clear an indication as any that the Palestine Liberation Organization has not abandoned its intention to destroy the State of Israel." MA'ARIV reported that an Israeli military court sentenced a Palestinian policeman to eight months in prison for throwing stones at Israel Defense Forces soldiers during a demonstration. The policeman was supposed to be dispersing demonstrators during the Palestinians' Land Day.