In an editorial published today — ‘The Arafat Problem’ — the New York Times calls for Yassir Arafat to quit:
It’s been the misfortune of the Palestinian people to be stuck with
Yasir Arafat as their founding father, a leader who has failed to make
the transition from romantic revolutionary to statesman. All he seems
capable of offering Palestinians now is a communal form of the
martyrdom he seems to covet. Mr. Arafat should accept his limitations
and retire as president of the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli occupation, with all its excesses, remains the last prop
for Mr. Arafat’s popularity, and even that has lost its power to
insulate him from serious political challenges. Encouragingly,
Palestinians, increasingly fed up with Mr. Arafat’s corruption,
cronyism and deafness to their needs and aspirations, are becoming
more assertive about demanding change. In the fall of 2002, members of
Mr. Arafat’s own Fatah movement mounted the first open political
rebellion and forced Mr. Arafat to fire his entire cabinet and
ostensibly cede some power to a prime minister in early 2003.That process has not worked, as Mr. Arafat has clung to power, and the
Gaza Strip’s ongoing descent into lawlessness is emboldening calls for
change, which will only intensify as an Israeli withdrawal from the
territory draws closer. Mr. Arafat didn’t help his cause there when he
picked a relative, Mousa Arafat, to be the new security chief.This week, the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, one of the
most loyal of Mr. Arafat’s lieutenants and the chief negotiator of the
Oslo agreements, proffered his resignation. “The very fabric of
Palestinian society is coming apart,” he said. Mr. Arafat’s
Palestinian Authority has become so discredited in Gaza that more
people now look to Hamas, the radical Islamist movement, to provide
some stability. Nor do Mr. Arafat’s longstanding international
benefactors pretend any longer that he is capable of responsibly
governing a sovereign state if he ever got the chance.The retirement of Mr. Arafat, who is 74, would allow the creation of a
more credible Palestinian government that could garner international
support and claim the moral high ground in the confrontation with Mr.
Arafat’s equally stubborn nemesis, Ariel Sharon.But there is, of course, no sign that Mr. Arafat is interested in much
beyond his own myth. Pinned down for the last two years in his
battered Ramallah bunker, Mr. Arafat has abused his control over the
authority’s treasury and militias. It seems to be of no importance to
him that the Palestinian lands are in total ruin and that the fruits
of the Oslo accords are in tatters.His reflexive insistence that this is all the fault of “Zionists,” the
West and other Arabs is unsustainable. Mr. Arafat himself bears a
large share of the responsibility for these misfortunes.Saying that it’s time for Mr. Arafat to go is not the same as saying
it is time for Mr. Arafat to be removed by force. He is, after all, a
democratically elected leader, though the term he won in 1996 was
never meant to be this long. Any Israeli or American-sanctioned move
against him – or even an internal coup – would probably backfire.
Ideally, Mr. Arafat’s exit would be dictated by the Palestinian
electorate at the polls, but there is nothing ideal about the
Palestinian quandary, and it is unlikely that new elections can be
organized in the occupied territories anytime soon. The dire situation
calls for Mr. Arafat’s immediate retirement.
