Yasser Arafat is either a coward or a fool.
Israel, the United States and Great Britain are urging him tostate, in no uncertain terms, that he and the PalestinianAuthority are opposed to terrorism — in particular, suicide bombings– and order all Palestinian militants to cease such activitiesimmediately.
A public declaration denouncing Palestinian terrorism againstIsraeli civilians would lend Arafat at least the appearance ofassertive leadership, not to mention bolster his image as someone whois genuinely interested in affecting peace in the region. Moreimportantly, to do so would instantly legitimize and give enormousweight to Palestinian demands that Israel stop its current militaryincursions into the occupied territories, as threat of bombers is allthe impetus Israel feels it needs to use military might.
Yet Arafat steadfastly refuses to make such a statement,preferring instead to play the victim, stowing away in his compoundas if he has no voice. While it is certainly true that he isprohibited from physically leaving the compound by the Israeli army,he is by no means silenced. He has full access to cellular phones,and has been interviewed several times by members of the media. Hehas recently been visited by the American special envoy, AnthonyZinni, and it’s possible he may soon meet with Secretary of StateColin Powell. One couldn’t ask for a more global audience.
Make no mistake about it: If Arafat wanted to publicly call offthe suicide bombers, he’d have ample opportunity. He chooses not to.Why?
The request that he make a declaration ordering an end toterrorism carries with it the inference that Arafat still hasauthority over the Palestinian people and the power to implement theorder. Perhaps the 72-year-old Arafat, who has no organized army tospeak of, fears he can no longer dictate Palestinian behavior by hismere words.
Many hard-line Palestinians resented his participation in 1993’sOslo Peace Accords; perhaps that’s why he doesn’t seem to garner therespect among his own people that he once did. If he commandsPalestinians, in front of the entire world, to cease terrorism, andthey ignore his order, he risks more than simply looking like aninternational joke. Continued terrorist bombings would mean Arafatwould be finished politically. He may not be much in terms of a trulyeffective leader, but up to now, he’s been all the Palestinians have;once he goes, the power vacuum left by his absence threatens to letall hell break loose. It’s possible he is simply too afraid to takethat risk, and let the world see that President Bush was correct inhis recent assertion that Arafat has “failed in his leadership” ofthe Palestinian people.
Of course, it might be that Yasser Arafat refuses to come outpublicly against terrorism because he isn’t against it. What if theold “I’m just a powerless leader under house arrest” act is just that– an act — and he is secretly promoting these suicide bombings.Perhaps Arafat, with his long history of radical opposition to Israeland his “take no prisoners” approach, has had second thoughts aboutplaying nice, something he began experimenting with as early as 1988,when he recognized the state of Israel and professed to be againstall terrorism.
If this is the case, Arafat is guilty of sheer foolishness. Anyonewith a brain can see that Palestinian bombings serve to accomplishnothing in the realm of legitimate politics. To the contrary, theygive Israel even more justification to crack down under the banner of”self defense.”
Regardless of how one feels about the situation, no sane personcan say that blowing up innocent civilians while they sip coffee at acaf
