Palestinian President Yasser Arafat told parliament yesterday he condemned terror attacks on Israeli civilians, confirmed that elections would be held in early January and offered -- apparently in jest -- to give up executive powers.
The rambling speech was Arafat's first to parliament in 18 months. His lower lip quivering, Arafat repeatedly fumbled with the microphones and strayed from the text, launching into asides that were sometimes incomprehensible.
The speech, which came just hours after 60 Israeli tanks encircled three Gaza refugee camps and blew up the home of a suspected militant, was both conciliatory and packed with accusations against Israel. Arafat skipped over some passages of an earlier draft, including one that called on parliament to ban suicide attacks.
Arafat said he condemned "attacks against Israeli civilians and at the same time of any attacks against Palestinian civilians." But he did not explicitly call for an end to attacks on Israelis.
He said such attacks served Israel's interest by drawing attention away from the suffering of the Palestinians under Israel's occupation.
At one point, Arafat said that reforms should be based on a separation of powers, then added: "Unless you want to bring somebody else in the executive authority. I wish you could do it and give me a rest."
Arafat aides later said he has repeatedly made the offer, always in jest, in internal meetings.
Israeli banned 12 legislators from making the trip from Gaza to the West Bank town of Ramallah, saying they were involved in attacks on Israelis. In solidarity, other Gazan lawmakers stayed behind and participated by video conference.
Several Palestinian legislators complained that Arafat had failed to present his new Cabinet -- the result of a June reshuffle -- to parliament for approval, and that he had not set a specific election date, as legislators had demanded.
When Arafat mentioned that elections would be held in January, one of the legislators shouted: "What is needed is a presidential decree with a specific date."
The vote on the Cabinet was to have been an important test of Arafat's standing and it was not clear whether he commands a majority in the 88-seat legislature. Several lawmakers have said they would withhold approval.
Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the speech was meaningless and that Palestinian reform would not work with Arafat in power.
"Peace and reforms can only happen when Arafat is not there," Gissin said.
In the Gaza Strip, Ismail Abu Shanab, a spokesman for the Islamic militant group Hamas, said Arafat's speech was a disappointment and that he had no clear strategy on how to confront Israel.
"We need to ... find a way to challenge the Israeli aggression," said Abu Shanab, whose group has carried out scores of suicide attacks that have killed more than 250 Israeli civilians in the past two years.
Yesterday's parliament session was held at Arafat's sandbagged headquarters, which has been heavily damaged in Israeli raids.
His aides said he preferred to stay in the compound to avoid possibly embarrassing encounters with Israeli troops who control the city.
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