-Caveat Lector-
Palestinians Complicate Hillary's Mideast Visit
Charges of Israeli Poisoning Spark Uproar
U.S. first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, center, talks with Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak, right, as his wife Nava, left, and
Chelsea Clinton, rear, look on. Mrs. Clinton's visit to the Middle
East has not been without controversy. (Amos Ben Gershom/Reuters)
ABCNEWS.com
J E R U S A L E M, Nov. 11
First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, considering a run for the Senate
from New York, found herself in the middle of a West Bank political
minefield today. With Mrs. Clinton at her side, the wife of
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said in a speech that Israel
had been systematically using gas to poison Palestinian women and
children. Suha Arafat also accused Israel of contaminating about
80 percent of water sources that it provides to Palestinians with
"chemical materials."
"It is important to point out here the severe damage caused by
the intensive daily use of poison gas by the Israeli forces in
the past years which has led to an increase of cancer cases among
Palestinian women and children," Mrs. Arafat said.
Holding Her Tongue Mrs. Clinton sat stone-faced on hearing the
remarks, which complicate her efforts to court the politically
potent Jewish vote in New York. The reference to gas offended
sensitivities in Israel, home to the largest community of Nazi
Holocaust survivors in the world. The Palestinian first lady's
remarks drew a swift and angry condemnation from Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak.
But Mrs. Clinton issued only a tepid rebuke, urging both Israelis
and Palestinians "to refrain from making inflammatory charges or
engaging in excessive rhetoric and to deal with any issues at the
negotiating table."
The ceremony in the West Bank town Ramallah was intended to
commemorate a $3.8 million U.S. grant for children's health care in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but was used by speaker after speaker
to voice independence aspirations for Palestinians.
In her address, Mrs. Clinton referred to Middle East peacemaking,
including the negotiations on a final Israeli-Palestinian peace
treaty that were launched earlier this week at the Grand Park Hotel
in Ramallah.
"I want to tell you on behalf of the president and his
administration that you can count on the United States and the
strong U.S.-Palestinian relationship as you move forward on the
path to peace," Mrs. Clinton said. "I am delighted to join my
friend Mrs. Arafat and all of you as we launch a vital, new
partnership to strengthen the families of the West Bank and Gaza."
Other speakers urged Mrs. Clinton to remember her own earlier
expressions of support for a Palestinian state, which she later
amended in the face of widespread condemnation in the American
Jewish community by stressing that she supports Jerusalem as
"the eternal and indivisible capital" of the Jewish state.
American Tourists Earlier today, Mrs. Clinton and her daughter
Chelsea toured the Wailing Wall in East Jerusalem and visited
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
In memory of the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis, Mrs. Clinton
tended an eternal flame and laid a wreath with a red-and-white
ribbon at the memorial.
The first lady is on a four-day Middle Eastern tour and will go on
to Jordan on Friday and Saturday.
Mrs. Clinton has dismissed questions about whether her latest visit
to the Middle East is an attempt to boost her popularity among Jews
in New York.
"I'm here as the first lady of the United States," she said this
morning, "to further deepen the already strong bonds between our
two countries."
With reporting from ABCNEWS' Josh Gerstein and ABCNEWS.com's Brian
Hartman in Washington and WABC-TV political reporter Dave Evans in
the West Bank. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
.
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