For one minute they stood in solemn silence in memory of those who have died for the cause of Palestinian statehood. Then the delegates to the plenary session of the 178-member Palestinian National Council, which convened late last week in the Arab League's blue and green tiled headquarters in Cairo, got down to business. As the Palestinians' de facto parliament, the plenary was promising to beas Palestine Liberation Organization Leader Yasser Arafat had earlier described it"one of the most important meetings in Palestinian history."
Arafat, who is chairman of the council's 14-man executive committee, was...