As the controversy over Israel's refusal to allow Arafat to make his annual pilgrimage to Bethlehem continues to simmer, the Palestinian leader can look to some sympathy from home, but not much. Just this weekend, Palestinian unity came close to dissolving this weekend as clashes between Yasir Arafat's police and Palestinian civilians left six dead and dozens injured. The violence was sparked by Arafat's attempt to satisfy Israeli and US demands that he clamp down on organizations that advocate terrorism. It was the worst case of Palestinian-on-Palestinian violence since 1994, and it sparked fears of civil war.

Audio ends pre-emptively - this is not in our control. 

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