Скачать или смотреть WEST BANK: PLO LEADER YASSER ARAFAT BEGINS ELECTION CAMPAIGN

(31 Dec 1995) Arabic/Eng/Nat

PLO leader Yasser Arafat kicked off the Palestinian election campaign Sunday by urging a cheering crowd to vote for the best presidential candidate in the January 20 poll not necessarily himself. .

Arafat was speaking in the West Bank town of Kalkilia -recently handed over by the Israelis- on the last day of candidate registration for the elections.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrived to a rapturous welcome in the West Bank town of Kalkilia.

It was handed over to the Palestinians two weeks ago. Israel has pulled our of seven major West Bank towns and more than 400 villages, clearing the way for Palestinian self rule.

Many of Kalkilia's 75 thousand Palestinians turned out Sunday to greet Arafat as he flew in by helicopter from Ramallah.

His speech encouraged the crowd to participate in the January 20 elections for 88 council positions and a council president.

There are two candidates for the top job Arafat and 72-year-old Samiha Khalil. a little known social worker.

Arafat's Fatah faction is expected to win by a large margin, but even so he urged the crowd to vote for the best candidate, not necessarily himself.

SOUNDBITE:
'I appeal to you not to vote for Yasser Arafat, vote for the best, the best amongst you.'
SUPER CAPTION: Yasser Arafat, P-L-O leader

Arafat's visit came on the eve of Fatah Day, the 31st anniversary of the founding of his P-L-O party.

SOUNDBITE:

We are now building the free Palestinian state.
SUPER CAPTION: Yasser Arafat, P-L-O leader

Despite Arafat's remarks encouraging freedom of action, the Palestinian leader has frequently cracked down on the Palestinian press since establishing his self-rule government in July, 1994.

Last week Arafat imprisoned newspaper editor Maher Alami for failing to give front-page coverage to a story that compared the P-L-O leader to a seventh century Muslim who liberated Jerusalem from the Persians.

Following his release, Alami swarned Sunday that Palestinian society cannot be considered to be democratic society without freedom of the press.

SOUNDBITE:
Arafat must be the leader, the liberator of land, not the editor and liberator of the newspapers. Everyone has his own job, his own authority, And we have to be really the fourth authority, but we are not the fourth authority unfortunately because we are lacking a free press in our country. We have not he press that forced Nixon to resign.
SUPER CAPTION: Maher Alami, Palestinian Newspaper editor

At another rally in Tulkaram on the West Bank, Arafat called the elections the cornerstone of the Palestinian state.

His tour came on the last day of candidate registration for the elections

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