Only Arafat Can
Suddenly, the tone has changed. Millions of words have been written in the past few yearsabout Yasser Arafat, not one percent of which was positive. A totally evil man, the ultimatevillain, a despicable murderer, corrupt, and other epitaphs. He must be driven out (meaning:he must be killed) as quickly as possible! If only the Americans would allow us…
And now, suddenly, when the possibility of his passing away has become concrete, theychange their tune. Former Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, who had been spreading thepoisonous ” We Have No Partner ” doctrine, has suddenly become lyrical: ” Arafat is the soul ofthe Palestinian People ” . Others, less poetical, started thinking seriously of a worldwithout Arafat – and grew frightened. For a good reason.
Yossi Beilin of the Meretz/Yahad Party talks of the rise of ” pragmatic Palestinians ” .Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom dreams of ” A new leadership that will fight terrorism ” . Howeasy to dream, when you don’t know the Palestinian reality.
The simple truth is that Yasser Arafat is the only person with the enormous moralauthority needed, not only in order to sign a peace agreement but also – and especially – to leadhis people to accept that peace, a peace which will inevitably involve a painful giving up ofthings which Palestinians hold sacred.
It is an illusion to think that a ” pragmatic ” leadership, which does not enjoy the supportof its people and which no longer has an Arafat to give it his moral backing could make this kindof concessions. Equally absurd is the assumption that such a leadership could conduct ahead-on struggle with the Tanzim or Hamas militias.
The true interest of Israel is that Arafat will completely recover. As long as he is alive -whether imprisoned in the Ramallah compound or free in far-away Paris – it will be he whodefines the line. And even if he dies, his program will remain the guiding star: an independentPalestinian state in the whole of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as itscapital; the re-institution of the pre-1967 border (possible with minor exchanges ofterritory); and the evacuation of all Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.It is futile to expect a Palestinian leader to sign an agreement giving less than that, evenmore futile to expect Palestinians to regard such signature as binding.