CAMBRIDGE, MASS., OCT. 24 -- Smiling and speaking of peace, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was cheered at Harvard tonight by the university's president and hundreds of faculty members and students.
"Let me speak frankly with you. It is very important here at Harvard not to play games," Arafat said. "The peace process is in need of your help."
Arafat heaped thanks on the Americans who had helped bring about his visit, including Harvard President Neil Rudenstine, the university's Kennedy School and the Lipper Foundation, which is helping to pay for training Palestinians in public management.
Security was tight for Arafat's first speech at an American university. Police snipers were positioned around the Kennedy School and those who attended the speech had to pass through metal detectors.
Arafat, who greeted the audience in English, Arabic and Hebrew, said that he hoped "everything will go smoothly, accurately, at the exact times" in the Palestinian elections in Gaza next January. But, he warned, "it is not easy."
The Palestinian leader, asked about Jerusalem, said the status of the city that is important to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths will be addressed during the third stage of negotiations. "Where there is a will, there is a way, no doubt," he said. "We have found solutions to very difficult problems."
As an example of a possible solution, he pointed to Rome, which he said served as a capital of the Italian and Vatican states.
"Why not?" Arafat asked. "Why not Jerusalem as a capital of two states, with no Berlin Wall? United, open, coexistence, living together." To that answer, the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
{Associated Press reported:
{Arafat was less well-received at a concert in New York City on Monday night.
{Deliberately left off the guest list for the concert celebrating the United Nations' 50th anniversary, he showed up anyway and was promptly asked to leave by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's staff, which he did about 30 minutes into the performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at Lincoln Center.
{Giuliani had made it clear last week that Arafat was persona non grata at all city-sponsored events during the celebration.
{Giuliani said today, "When we're having a party and a celebration, I would rather not have someone who was implicated in the murders of Americans." {Nasser al-Kidwa, the PLO's permanent observer to the United Nations, said Arafat left the concert after about a half hour because of his own scheduling demands, not the mayor's order.
{State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said, "We don't think this is right. He is the leader of the Palestinian people. He should be given the respect the Palestinian people deserve."} CAPTION: Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat said he hopes for a smooth election in Gaza.
