Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid

Just like a famous actor basking in the limelight, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat blew warm and doubtless sincere kisses at his audience. He must have thought the huge turnout was his salvation and evidence of his continued popularity despite the dents it had sustained in the battle which forced his opponent Abu Mazen to flee his position as prime minister.

It is improbable that Arafat’s kisses would stop Israel expelling him if it decided to. History is a witness to its expulsion of three million Palestinians, and the list of people it has deposed is long and ever growing. Those languishing in Israeli prisons represent all the various Palestinian leaderships that have held sway over the years, not merely those who advocate violence.

The only question is what Israel really wants. It has pledged to remove Arafat ever since the Arab summit in Beirut two years ago, but it never did. One of the reasons for this is that Arafat, despite all the difficulties he presents, remains more willing to solve the crisis between the two sides than any other leader. He may very well make a comeback in the forthcoming round of negotiations, and that, after the removal of Abu Mazen, would transform him from a roadblock into a bridge on whose back the peace agreement could be signed.

The absence of the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah leaderships after the latest fierce rounds of assassinations leaves only Arafat as a candidate to finish the stalled negotiation process. We must not forget that it was the Arabs who asked that negotiations be restarted in the first place and accused Washington of neglecting the Palestinian issue in order to concentrate on Iraq. The US only later decided to mollify the Arabs and announced at Sharm El Sheikh and then at Aqaba at the end of the Iraqi war it was ready to back the creation of a Palestinian state on terms similar to those called for by Saudi Arabia at the Beirut summit.

Therefore the only beneficiary of derailing the negotiations is Ariel Sharon, who only agreed to begin negotiations under duress. The negotiations were plowed under not only by internal Palestinian conflict but also by other issues created by Israel to thwart the movement, including the security fence. And here we are, four months on, and not a single step forward has been made.

If Israel again decides to imprison Arafat in his compound in Ramallah, this will not prevent him administering the Palestinian Authority. His administrative and financial capabilities are strong and his political and administrative working teams have enough clout to make them effective unless Israel throws Arafat out. However, even if it did so, that would not guarantee the success of the substitute Palestinian government. It would only mean that Yasser Arafat will become bigger than the Palestinian issue itself.

Expelling Arafat will not bring peace nor will it end the violence. Imprisoning him will not set the Israelis free. There is no alternative for the real and only solution, which is for Israel to acknowledge the need to get out of all occupied Palestinian territories and enshrine that in a framework of peace that ensures both its external security and the rights of the Palestinians.

- Arab News Opinion 20 September 2003