The Art of Politics

God 1, Arafat 0

Mr. Arafat, this is Hell calling, your table for one is ready...

The long, tortured death watch of Yasser Arafat has ended a long, tortured life of terror, vile corruption, and exploitation of the Palestinian people.

While our choice of news was restricted to onboard watching of CNN, we were partially surprised to see at least some balance toward what we feared might be a tendency to lionize the utterly poisonous Arafat. Most accounts were unsweetened and fairly balanced.

Arafats long-overdue demise opens a new phase of possible hope for progress in settling Israeli/Palestinian disputes. Arafat was never a serious player to create a lasting peace in the region, as he relied on the dissonance of the people to support his cronyism and graft. Turning his back on the most generous offer the Palestinian Authority would ever get in the failed summit talks of 2000, Arafat's continued reliance on his people's misery led to his persona-non-grata status with the White House, which has enabled Sharon to impose a solution, rather than allow the Palestinians to negotiate one.

Before his death, Arafat and his Intifada had managed to alienate anyone inside Israel sympathetic toward their plight, created an enormous project to wall Israel off from the West Bank, and disinterested the United States from dealing with the Palestinian Authority whatsoever. A true disaster. With his passing, and the selection of Mahmoud Abbas to run to lead the PA under the Fatah party into the January 9th election to choose a new leader will close the book on the Arafat era and hopefully open a new one.

Abbas, removed from his prior position as Prime Minister after clashing with Arafat, has a chance to be what Arafat wasn't - a pragmatic leader who delivered statehood to his people.

Posted by MEC2 at November 15, 2004 02:14 PM