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Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak blamed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the collapse of peace talks at Camp David in 2000 and said he foresees a lengthy, worldwide fight against terror in a UC Berkeley speech Tuesday night. 

Meanwhile, about 200 protesters gathered outside the university’s Zellerbach Hall, challenging Barak’s version of history. 

A handful of activists in the audience took action as well, sporadically yelling at the speaker and some removing outer garments to reveal t-shirts with the word “LIE” scrawled across the front. Campus security escorted the activists out of the hall. 

Barak, at the podium, dismissed the taunts. 

“I suggest to you, instead of shouting now, ask questions later and I will answer the questions,” he said, winning loud applause from a largely supportive audience. 

Barak, a former general who was elected Prime Minister on a peace platform in 1999, said he made an historic offer at Camp David of a largely contiguous, independent Palestinian state, but that Arafat rejected it. 

“The offer was much closer to the Palestinian demands than to the Israeli position,” he said. “I had my reservations, but I was willing to take it as a basis for negotiations... Chairman Arafat refused to take it even as a basis for negotiations.” 

Protesters said Barak’s version of events is inaccurate, arguing that the Israelis forced an “all or nothing” offer of a disjointed Palestinian state on Arafat. 

“It’s disgusting,” said Liat Weingart of the Oakland-based A Jewish Voice for Peace, describing Barak’s interpretation. 

But Barak said Arafat and his supporters have created a number of “Camp David legends” to justify the Palestinian rejection of his proposal. 

Barak said he offered a framework agreement, with room for negotiation, not an “all or nothing” deal. He also argued that the proposed Palestinian state was, in fact, highly contiguous. 

The former prime minister said there is little hope for peace until the Palestinians put a leader “of character” in place who is willing to negotiate. Nonetheless, he said Israel should leave the door open for negotiations, based on the Camp David proposals, with only one pre-condition – the end of violence. 

Weingart said it is misguided to require an end to violence, arguing that it “puts power squarely in the hands of extremists on both sides. 

“It’s really leaving moderates on both sides totally out of the balance,” she said. 

Barak also warned of a lengthy, post-Sep. 11 war on terrorism. 

“We are just in the opening chapter of this ordeal,” he said. “At stake is everything we hold dear. 

“We have to win the first world war of the 21st century and we will,” he continued. 

Barak, in a question-and-answer session after his speech, voiced support for President Bush’s hard-line stance on Iraq, noting that no one knows how close Saddam Hussein is to building nuclear weapons. 

Barak’s visit, while drawing protest, went much smoother than a November 2000 bid by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give a speech at Berkeley Community Theater. 

Protesters blocked the entrance to the theater and Netanyahu cancelled his speech. The organization that sponsored Netanyahu’s appearance, the Berkeley Speakers Lecture Series, moved its operation to Oakland earlier this year, in part out of frustration over the Berkeley Police Department’s security arrangements at the Community Theater. 

UC Berkeley police did not arrest or cite any of the protesters who spoke out in Zellerbach Hall Tuesday night, according to Captain Bill Cooper. Police charged one protester outside with robbery and vandalism for taking a camera from a man photographing activists and smashing it on the ground, Cooper said. 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg 

@berkeleydailyplanet.net