


No, he does not.  Arafat explicitly *denies* this claim.


from a Libyan televison interview with Yasser Arafat 7-19-1991
Q: Some people say that the Palestinian revolution has many times changed
   its strategies and tactics, something which has left its imprint on the
   Palestinian problem and on the Palestinian Liberation Front.  The
   [strategies and tactics] have not been clear.  The question is, is the
   direction of the Palestinian problem clear?  The Palestinian leadership
   has stopped, or at least this is what has been said in the media, this
   happened on the way to the dialogue with the United States, the PLO
   recognized something called "Israel"...

A: No, no, no!  We do not recognize the State of Israel.  We said
   "recognition" -- when a Palestinian state is established.  It will then
   decide if to recognize Israel or not.  When it is established, its
   parliament will convene and decide.


	And replace them with what?  If Israel is to withdraw its
control of any territory, there must be two prerequsites.  One is that
it leads to a reduction in deaths.  The second is that it should not
weaken Israels bargianing position with respect to peace talks.

	Leaving Gaza unilateraly is a bad idea because it encourages
arabs to think they can get what they want by killing Jews.  The only
way Israel should pull out of Gaza is at the end of negotiations.
These negotiations should lead to a mutually agreeable solution with
security guarantees for both sides.

	Until arabs are ready to sit down at the table and talk again,
they should not expect, or recieve more concessions.


Adam




Adam Shostack 				       adam@das.harvard.edu