On the scene with Ben Wedeman in Ramallah

Ben Wedeman

CNN.com talked on Saturday with CNN Cairo Bureau Chief Ben Wedeman, who has been reporting from the flash point of Ramallah on the crisis in the Middle East

Q. What do the people in Ramallah think of the United States as a peace broker?

WEDEMAN: Ramallah is the wealthiest town in the West Bank. Many people who live here have worked and lived in the United States and speak excellent English.

They're happy to have American passports because they appreciate the kinds of opportunities that exist there, but at same time they have very strong resentment against U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. It is widely perceived that the U.S. has coddled Israel over the years and overlooked Palestinian interests -- and when push comes to shove, the U.S. will always support Israel. They think Clinton only went into high crisis mode when the two Israeli soldiers were killed -- and when 100 Palestinians are killed, it's not really a big deal.

Q. How many Palestinians have died in fighting in the West Bank and Gaza over the past two weeks?

WEDEMAN: The question of numbers is very contentious -- Palestinians put the death toll at 120. The Associated Press and Reuters (and other wire services) have varying numbers. The CNN position is that it's in the mid-90s.

Q. Do the protesters in the streets, the boys we hear about, consider themselves martyrs to their cause?

WEDEMAN: We don't have the same situation here as you have in Lebanon, with suicide bombers. The boys involved in these clashes are not suicidal. They know what they're doing, they're taking risks, and they're absolutely convinced of the justice of their cause. But for a 14-year-old boy, there's a big thrill in going out in the street and confronting armed soldiers, throwing stones.

Q. Do the Palestinians view the upcoming summit in Egypt with any hope?

WEDEMAN: Today we did a story on the Palestinian reaction to news of the summit. They are very skeptical. People ask: "How many of these summits do we have to have before we have peace?" They believe everybody involved has their own agenda. The feeling is Clinton wants to secure his place in history with a Mideast peace, that it's an ego thing, that he's doing it at the expense of a lasting peace -- that he prefers a quick peace at the expense of a just and lasting peace.

Q. Will the Palestinians listen to Yasser Arafat if he asks them to stop the protests? Does he still have that kind of influence?

WEDEMAN: People still have a lot of respect for Arafat. People consider him to be more than a politician or statesman -- he's a symbol of Palestine.

But since the peace process, many people have begun to criticize him and believe he has begun to make huge tactical mistakes. He's let the tiger out of the cage. One of the big questions at the moment is: Can he put the tiger back in? There are lots of other Palestinian groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad that would like to see the situation become even more volatile -- they're out there now trying to make people see their point of view.

The longer this peace process takes, the more likely it is people will throw up their hands and come to the conclusion that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are right.

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Official Palestinian National Authority Web site
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U.S. State Department

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