MadelynIris
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The tragic legacy of Yasser Arafat
Palestinians will soon have chance to shift course
November 5, 2004
On Sept. 9, 1993, Yasser Arafat signed a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin pledging that the Palestine Liberation Organization "recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security." That was a lie, and it is one of many reasons the world should not mourn the passing of this petty tyrant, whenever his death finally comes.
The list of crimes the PLO chairman has incited or been associated with over the years would stain every page of a good-sized book. Highlights, however, would include the slaughter of athletes at the 1972 Olympics by Black September; the assassination of U.S. diplomats in Sudan in 1973; the massacre of schoolchildren at Maalot in 1974; a bus hijacking that killed 35 civilians in 1978; the slaying of Leon Klinghoffer on the Achille Lauro in 1985; the torture and execution of Palestinian dissidents, especially during the intifada of the late 1980s and early '90s; and the suicide bombings of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in more recent years. Even those incidents provide but a flavor of Arafat's culpability in the decades-long terrorism that sabotaged the likelihood of Middle East peace.
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When advised of Arafat's possible death at his press conference Thursday, President Bush generously said, "My first reaction is, God bless his soul." There was a pause. "And my second reaction is that we will continue to work for a free Palestinian state that's at peace with Israel."
It would have been impolitic of Bush to say so but Arafat, who was comatose in a Paris hospital at the time, has been the single greatest obstacle to settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Given an opportunity in '93 to lead the Palestinians in setting up a state of their own, Arafat botched it utterly, staffing a soon-to-be corrupt Palestinian Authority with cronies and thugs.
At every turn, meanwhile, he walked away from the possibility of a settlement with Israel. Most notably in the fall of 2000, he left on the table a two-state solution that gave the Palestinians nearly everything they could realistically expect in terms of territory and a capital in East Jerusalem.
In the four years of violence that have followed, Arafat has made no serious efforts to halt suicide bombings against Israeli civilians or to rein in the violence that has made a shambles of the economy. No doubt part of the reason for this feeble performance is that his Fatah movement and the PA itself are implicated in the attacks.
Arafat's death will provide Palestinians with an opportunity to turn away from the violence of half a century to choose a more productive course. But alas, the seeds of a rejectionist strategy have been sown, and Islamists such as those in Hamas are increasingly well positioned to compete for the levers of Palestinian power. If they succeed, it will be a final
-------------
Mark
The tragic legacy of Yasser Arafat
Palestinians will soon have chance to shift course
November 5, 2004
On Sept. 9, 1993, Yasser Arafat signed a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin pledging that the Palestine Liberation Organization "recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security." That was a lie, and it is one of many reasons the world should not mourn the passing of this petty tyrant, whenever his death finally comes.
The list of crimes the PLO chairman has incited or been associated with over the years would stain every page of a good-sized book. Highlights, however, would include the slaughter of athletes at the 1972 Olympics by Black September; the assassination of U.S. diplomats in Sudan in 1973; the massacre of schoolchildren at Maalot in 1974; a bus hijacking that killed 35 civilians in 1978; the slaying of Leon Klinghoffer on the Achille Lauro in 1985; the torture and execution of Palestinian dissidents, especially during the intifada of the late 1980s and early '90s; and the suicide bombings of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in more recent years. Even those incidents provide but a flavor of Arafat's culpability in the decades-long terrorism that sabotaged the likelihood of Middle East peace.
Advertisement
When advised of Arafat's possible death at his press conference Thursday, President Bush generously said, "My first reaction is, God bless his soul." There was a pause. "And my second reaction is that we will continue to work for a free Palestinian state that's at peace with Israel."
It would have been impolitic of Bush to say so but Arafat, who was comatose in a Paris hospital at the time, has been the single greatest obstacle to settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Given an opportunity in '93 to lead the Palestinians in setting up a state of their own, Arafat botched it utterly, staffing a soon-to-be corrupt Palestinian Authority with cronies and thugs.
At every turn, meanwhile, he walked away from the possibility of a settlement with Israel. Most notably in the fall of 2000, he left on the table a two-state solution that gave the Palestinians nearly everything they could realistically expect in terms of territory and a capital in East Jerusalem.
In the four years of violence that have followed, Arafat has made no serious efforts to halt suicide bombings against Israeli civilians or to rein in the violence that has made a shambles of the economy. No doubt part of the reason for this feeble performance is that his Fatah movement and the PA itself are implicated in the attacks.
Arafat's death will provide Palestinians with an opportunity to turn away from the violence of half a century to choose a more productive course. But alas, the seeds of a rejectionist strategy have been sown, and Islamists such as those in Hamas are increasingly well positioned to compete for the levers of Palestinian power. If they succeed, it will be a final
-------------
Mark
