A Moment's Reflection.

by Edward Graham

There is a lot of talk, most of it conflicting, this morning about the health of Yasser Arafat. The majority of the babble is about how much better things would be in the Middle East if he were to die. It’s a ridiculous notion, but one supported by the twin devils of ignorance and short-sightedness. While it is true that Arafat is responsible for some terrible and evil actions, his sudden death and the vacuum it will leave behind will be far more destructive.

Arafat is a symbol and has been for decades now. He is the enemy, the terrorist, the fool. This is how he is commonly vilified in the West. The more important image, and truly the only image that matters, is that he is the father of a movement. More importantly he is the symbol of hope to millions. Since 1968 Arafat has been the Chairman and icon of the PLO, an avatar of the dreams of the Palestinian people living under a brutal occupation. He inspired people to believe that tomorrow may be a better day, that freedom could be obtained.

By no means would I argue that Arafat is perfect, or even a hero. His inspiration has resulted in the deaths of the innocent, has fueled the flames of a civil war, and has led to military crackdowns on his people in three countries. Through it all he has emerged unscathed, smiling and vowing to fight another day.

At the same time, you cannot argue that he has really been a good leader for his people either. Abba Eban described Arafat as “never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity” for the Palestinian people. And for the longest time, it seemed that was the most apt description of his leadership style. Zealous and dedicated, but not grounded in reality. He argued for the destruction of Israel and promised that his tiny organization could succeed where five Arab states and their militaries had failed repeatedly. He argued all or nothing. He lived in exile and shared none of the suffering of his people.

The fact remained that none of that mattered to the Palestinians. His face was plastered everywhere, street corners, billboards, living room walls. The more Israel tore down his image, the more his face appeared in the Occupied Territories. In 1974 he stood before the General Assembly of the United Nations, the leader of a non-existent country, putting the world on notice that the Palestinians could not be swept under the carpet. He was the figurehead that Arab leaders rolled out when they wanted the pretend they cared about the Palestinian issue. He became the prime target of the Israeli government. He made a King fear for his kingdom.

It is hard to find an accurate comparison between Arafat and another leader. Imagine, if you will, that Uncle Sam was a real person, fighting British occupation, leading the American revolution. Now imagine if Uncle Sam was on his death bed and the year is 1775, the future itself seems to hang in the balance. There are, of course, failures in any comparison and most people reel at the thought of making Arafat appear in a positive light. But, jingoist arguments aside, the comparison, to the Palestinians, is correct.

Ironically, the importance of Arafat has nothing to with him as a person. His image is the force that will be missed. The Palestinian people have seen dramatic change in the last ten years. The temporary withdrawal of Israeli forces from the West Bank and Gaza, the creation of a Palestinian government (and not one in exile, one right there on Palestinian soil), treaties being signed, recognition of existence being granted by old enemies and a reconstruction, or in some cases initial construction, of a functioning economy. Through it all Arafat has been the face on television, shaking hands with the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Israel, the King of Jordan and world leaders whom for years had pretended he, and his people, didn’t actually exist. Most importantly he is the elected President of the Palestinian people, a title the American and Israeli press try diligently to ignore, instead making him only the Chairman of a accused terrorist organization, not the legitimate President of a governing body.

However, in the last four years he has regained his original position, leader of the struggle for freedom, the fight to end oppression, and, of course, the director of terrorism. The new Intifadah has restored his position of icon, this time as a part of the fight. Unlike the original Intifadah that Arafat had nothing to do with, he is in Palestine for this fight, a prisoner of the Israeli military, a symbol of occupation of a grand scale, not even allowed to leave a building to say nothing of leaving the Territories. Unlike the 70’s and 80’s when he suffered occupation in faraway palaces, he has spent the last few years in a bombed out building with little or no electricity and running water, a fate shared by 90% of his people. Arafat fueled resistance for years from Damascus, Beirut and Tunis, even as the population under occupation begrudged him his life outside Palestine. Now, he is one of the people, sharing their fate, cut off from any semblance of normalcy. Unintentionally, Israel and the United States have vaulted his symbolic power to levels never before seen.

Through it all Arafat has fought another struggle inside Palestine, and this is the most important struggle of all. During the 1980’s HAMAS was created to undermine the power of the PLO, and undermine it did. Aside from its bloodthirsty cadre of fighters and terrorists (the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades), HAMAS did something the PLO had only talked about, it helped the Palestinian people. It built schools, hospitals, shelters for refugees and their families and it provided direct relief to those in need. But, HAMAS, for all its power among the populace, remained cowed to the image of Arafat and the PLO. The Harakat fought locally while Arafat made the news around the world with his fight. When Arafat shook hands with Rabin and Netanyahu, it seemed the age of HAMAS was over, the struggle had been elevated to the level of statesmanship, an arena the Harakat had no experience in.

But nothing is ever as it seems in Palestine, and HAMAS quickly retooled itself for the coming years. Its leaders turned on Arafat, accusing him of selling out the country and betraying the ideals of the Muslim population in the Territories. It promised a renewed war against Israel, secularism and the corruption endemic in the PLO and the newly created Palestinian National Authority. It struck a chord with a large percentage of the Palestinian population and forced Arafat to pay attention to the threat from within. If Arafat backed down from a fight, HAMAS launched an attack against Israel and called him weak for failing to attack himself. It gathered crowds of angry Palestinians at mosques and demanded to know where the better life Arafat had promised was. It created “martyrs” and vast funerals for them that marched through the streets waving HAMAS flags, chanting the names of Harakat leaders, not Arafat. These images were broadcast to the world, polls have showed growing support for HAMAS and waning belief that the PNA could do anything. Israel made HAMAS its prime target, marking its leaders for assassination and naming the organization public enemy number one. All of which served to shuffle Arafat to the background. International leaders stopped calling and the peace process ground to a halt, both Israel and the US naming Arafat an obstacle to peace.

Through it all, for good or bad, Arafat remained a symbol of Palestinian suffering and their aspiration to statehood. More importantly he remains a unifying force inside the Palestinian political realm. When he was struck ill last week a shudder went through the PNA and the Territories. Quick statements were made that his condition was exaggerated and that he was in good health. Before long, medical teams from around the Middle East descended on Ramallah, Israel withdrew its threat to never allow Arafat to return if he left the territories and he was whisked away to a hospital in France to treat a still unknown condition. PNA leaders have been left behind trying to determine what happens next. No clear successor has ever been named for leadership of the PLO and the constitutional election process of the PNA has been stymied by occupation and the systematic dismantling of the Palestinian political structure. The vacuum Arafat’s death may leave is an unknown danger. Ironically both Israeli and Palestinian security forces are behind closed doors trying to come up with a security plan in the event he dies.

Clearly the central structure of the PLO is in no position to name a quick successor. In-fighting between its members is now a public event, members and their supporters are torn over the issues of dealing with Israel, the rampant corruption inside the structure, the power of HAMAS among the people and the need for a world power to intercede in the peace process, if such a process even exists anymore. Rumors of actual fighting between Palestinian factions or militias calls to mind Lebanon in the late 70’s and early 80’s. HAMAS will see this opening as a chance to move on the central power structure, the old-guard PLO will see this as the way to retain power amongst their ranks and the growing generation of younger Palestinians will see it as a sign that the time has come to sweep aside the PLO and seize control of their future.

The latter would seem to be the best choice, but the younger generation of Palestinians are also the victims of Israeli bullets, Palestinian corruption and global ignorance. They are likely divided along the same lines as the ancién regime.

Since I started writing this piece, news has come out of France that Yasser Arafat is clinically dead. Denials have been issued from both Gaza and Paris by the PNA, but likely this is to give themselves more time to prepare for the reaction to his death. His death will be greeted with glee by the Israeli and American right, by shallow comments and recriminations by those too ignorant to see the whole picture and by abject grief and fear by the Palestinian people.

Imagine if you pinned your hopes and dreams on one man and his ability to make them come true, an avatar of your ideal future. Imagine he was able to start a process that gave you hope and, for a brief moment, a better life. Now imagine he died at a moment when you most feared for your future and had once again looked to him for inspiration.

I will mourn the passing of Abu Ammar as a person, but no more. I will mourn neither the loss of the consummate outsider missing opportunities to better his people’s way of life nor the stubborn man who would not concede to any design except his own.

I will, however, mourn outright for the Palestinian people and their loss of a symbol of hope. I do not ask for you to mourn for Yasser Arafat anymore than you would mourn for someone you did not know. I know full well what the majority of public opinion will be when he dies. I do ask that you see beyond the hate, beyond the spin and see the people whose public spirit will be dashed, whose march toward a better future will stumble. These people, who may become the victims of opportunity and circumstance, like they have so many times before, who will cry out at the death of the man who symbolized their dreams.

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