Word: arafats
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Over the weekend, bargaining was so slow that delegates escaped to a nearby outlet mall to buy men's clothes and perfume. The 69-year-old Arafat rode a bicycle--the first time in 50 years, he told aides--around the grounds, his trademark checkered kaffiyeh flapping in the breeze, security agents following on a golf cart. It became obvious that any progress would require Clinton's presence; neither side saw value in giving concessions to anyone of lesser rank...
Inside the American camp, there was disagreement about how best to push the negotiations forward. Everyone was impressed by Arafat's apparent willingness to find a deal. But the Americans were split over how to handle Netanyahu. Albright, who battled with the Israeli Prime Minister last May and lost when she gave him an ultimatum about moving troops from the West Bank, was growing increasingly frustrated with Israeli stalling. Friday night, as the Israelis celebrated the Sabbath, Albright was host to a small, Arabs-only dinner. "I really understand the pain and aspirations of your people," she said...
...news Monday morning was horrific--and unhelpful. Two grenades had been tossed into an Israeli bus station at rush hour, wounding 64 people. A Hamas activist was caught at the scene. Arafat condemned the terror, but the Americans feared that if Netanyahu wanted a pretext to leave, he had found it. Instead Bibi declared a suspension of the talks (soon quietly relaxed) except on security matters, and proposed a detour--a quickie deal on troops and security, to be followed by new talks in two to four weeks...
...officials thought the mini-deal wouldn't have enough meat, and they weren't surprised when Arafat balked. The Americans felt they had heard enough--in fact, more than enough--to craft a full package. Sandy Berger, the President's National Security Adviser, had heard so much repetition that he started carrying around the lyrics to I Got You Babe, the song from the movie Groundhog Day--whose hero must relive the same 24 hours over and over. (Clinton tried to explain the joke to Arafat, but it didn't translate.) It was time to force Netanyahu to focus...
...next day, Tuesday, Clinton got off his helicopter with a pad that had a column for each side's needs, bunched in three categories of difficulty. He joked with the parties, "I've kept you so long, you have a right to ask me for territory." Clinton got Arafat to accept Netanyahu's five security demands, but that afternoon Bibi put forward a kitchen-sink collection of complaints. Once the core security problems were solved, it was clear to Clinton that two emotional issues were blocking progress. For the Palestinians, it was the release of prisoners held in Israeli jails...