DATE=3/26/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-288009

TITLE=PALESTINIANS / RIGHTS COMMISSION (L-O)

BYLINE=DALE GAVLAK

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Palestinian special envoy Hanan Ashrawi says Israel's treatment of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will only harm efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. Dale Gavlak reports from Geneva, where Ms. Ashrawi is attending U-N Human Rights Commission meetings.

TEXT: Ms. Ashrawi said by refusing to allow the Palestinian leader to attend the summit, Israel is humiliating all Palestinians.

/// ASHRAWI ACT ///

This slight to President Arafat is not just individual, it is addressed to all the Palestinian people and to all the Arab people and leadership. And that will be seen in that context. It certainly will contribute to greater hostility and will negate or will undermine efforts at opening a whole new avenue and prospect for peace based on, of course, the Abdullah initiative.

/// END ACT ///

The Abdullah initiative is the peace proposal put forward by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. It calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from all Arab land occupied in the 1967 Mideast war in return for full normalization of Arab ties with Israel.

The initiative is expected to be the focus of much attention during the Beirut summit, which begins Wednesday.

In her remarks, Ms. Ashrawi urged the European Union to take a more effective role in peacemaking and to help change U-S policies in the Middle East, which she said tended to mirror Israel's own position. She said U-S officials must realize that, for Arab nations, the Palestinian question will always be vitally important.

/// 2ND ASHRAWI ACT ///

They have to understand that the region is a series of interconnected relationships, that we are not separate when they talk, whether about Iraq or any other country. The issue will always come back to the Palestinian question. This has been the source of instability, of conflict and of undermining American influence and standing in the region.

/// END ACT ///

In a speech earlier to the Human Rights Commission, Ms. Ashrawi told the delegates that Mr. Arafat deplored attempts to kill Israeli citizens. She said "despite the pain and loss," Palestinians have never accepted the murder of the innocent. (SIGNED)

NEB/DG/KL/RAE