GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- On a historic mission of peace, President Clinton Monday told the Palestinian people they are free to "determine their own destiny on their own land." He then witnessed a Palestine National Council vote annulling parts of the Palestinian charter that deny Israel's right to exist.
On the first visit to Palestinian-controlled territory by an American president, Clinton applauded Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for making bold moves toward peace with Israel and said it was time to think harder about ways to cement the peace and ensure a more prosperous future for all Palestinians."For too many Palestinians, lives are hard, jobs are scarce," Clinton said in an address to the Palestine National Council after its members and representatives of other Palestinian groups stood, at Arafat's invitation, and raised their hands to affirm elimination of anti-Israel passages from the Palestinian charter.
"I know the way is often difficult and frustrating, but you have come to this point through a commitment to peace and negotiations," Clinton said. "You reaffirmed that commitment today. I believe it is the only way to fulfill the aspiration of your people."
Palestinians look to Clinton's visit for a morale boost in their quest for an independent state.
"Sometimes it takes more courage and more strength to make peace than it does to continue war," Clinton said earlier in an exchange of remarks with Arafat at a luncheon in his honor at a Gaza City beach resort.
The president cut a ribbon at the new Palestinian airport and then met with Arafat at his Gaza City headquarters. Seemingly everywhere were posters reading, "We have a dream. Free Palestine."
Afterward, at the luncheon, he said, "For the first time in the history of the Palestinian movement, the Palestinian people and their elected representatives now have a chance to determine their own destiny on their own land."
He pledged U.S. support.
"America wants you to succeed, and we will help you create the society you deserve," Clinton said.
Clinton and his senior aides have said that by visiting Gaza and encouraging the Palestinians to pursue their own destiny, they are not advancing Palestinian aspirations for statehood. The question of sovereignty, in Washington's view, remains to be considered in further negotiations with Israel. Many Israelis worry that by his simple act of visiting Gaza, Clinton is implicitly endorsing Palestinian statehood.
Clinton, who met Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Gaza City Monday to witness the landmark vote by the Palestine National Council to renounce passages of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's charter that call for the destruction of Israel.
Arafat heaped praise on the American president for helping pull together the Wye River land-for-security agreement two months ago. And he thanked him for inaugurating the new Gaza International Airport.