Arafat seeks talks with Israel to end violence
"It's time for dialogue instead of military means, violence, assassinations and destructions," the veteran leader told MPs in the West Bank town of Ramallah in a session of parliament to approve a new Palestinian government.
"It's time for us and you Israelis to get out of this destructive cycle which will not give us or you peace or security," said Arafat, who stressed that Israelis also had the right to live in peace.
The Israeli government of Prime Minister Sharon has refused to talk with Arafat, whom it has described as an "absolute obstacle" to peace and kept under virtual house arrest in Ramallah for almost two years.
Israel has given a luke-warm reception to the new line-up, which includes many outgoing ministers, but promised to "give a chance" to incoming premier Ahmed Qorei and repeated it was ready to renew contacts.
Arafat nevertheless slammed Israel's policies, especially the separation barrier being erected in the West Bank which he described as "a new Berlin Wall".
The barrier was "depriving our people of their land, their rights and independent state and sacred Jerusalem," Arafat said.
A new United Nations report said Tuesday the barrier, which Israel says is designed solely to keep out Palestinian militants, will lead to severe humanitarian consequences for more than 680,000 Palestinians.
Only 11 percent of the route of the barrier conforms to the "Green Line", the boundary between Israel and the West Bank, said the survey by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The Palestinians regard what they describe as the "apartheid wall" as an attempt to pre-empt the borders of any future two-state settlement and seize their most fertile land.
"Little consideration appears to have been given by the Israeli government to the wall's impact on Palestinian lives," the report said.
Arafat, whose health has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks, also complained that his life was under threat.
"I am telling you and the entire world that my life is threatened day and night by the Israeli government but my life is no more important than that of any Palestinian child," he said.
The Israeli security cabinet approved Arafat's "removal" in September with one minister saying that the veteran leader's assassination was considered an option.
Sharon has since insisted that there are no plans to kill his long-time foe.
Qorei, who gave a long speech to flesh out his programme, reiterated the Palestinian government's call for the siege on Arafat to be lifted.
The prime minister also urged Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories reoccupied since the September 2000 start of the intifada to allow elections to be held in June 2004.
His new 24-minister line-up, which is expected to be comfortably passed by the deputies, was only agreed upon after weeks of bitter struggle between Arafat and Qorei on the key position of interior minister.
Arafat came out on top once again and the deadlock was broken on Friday when the premier confirmed that his preferred candidate, General Nasr Yussef, had been dropped to make way for close Arafat associate Hakam Balaawi.
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