Amidst the jubilation and greetings of thousands of his people, and
watched by millions on television world-wide, Yasser Arafat has
finally come home. For many, his return was regarded as a dream
come true. Yet others felt betrayed and very bitter - sixty percent
of the Gaza Strip and a few square kilometers in the West Bank in
an oasis called Jericho - is not exactly the independent state
Arafat and his colleagues have promised, and for which thousands of
martyrs have died, and tens of thousands have spent the best years
of their life in Israeli jails. Neither could it be the fruit of
decades of struggle which have witnessed the uprooting of a whole
nation from eighty percent of its land.
Still, Arafat's return was one of the most electrifying moments in
recent Palestinian history. Less than a year ago, it would have
been inconceivable that the man sought by the Israeli army and
intelligence for more than a quarter of a century, would ride
through the streets of Gaza and Jericho with the approval of the
Israeli government and its prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Ironically, it was Rabin who was the chief of staff of the army
that occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and turned Arafat
and his fighters, along with more than half a million Palestinians
into refugees - some of them for the second time in their
life.
During his first short visit, the same themes could be discerned in
Arafat's speeches. In all of them he stressed national unity; the
hard work needed to build a democratic state - with East Jerusalem
as its capital; freedom to Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the spiritual
leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Ham as); the release of
all other Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails; and, of course,
his commitment to the peace process. He also attacked the donor
nations that have promised 2.4 billion dollars to the newly
autonomous areas, but have not been as forthcoming as expected. He
even talked of an agricultural revolution in Jericho, ignoring the
fact that by most countries' standards, the town's total area is
less than that of a mid-size farm. He tried his best to lift the
spirits of the people who after so many years of occupation are
very, very tired.
Arafat's Problems
For some analysts, Arafat failed to live up to the occasion. His
speeches were flat, they said, and he looked tired and at times
even bored. But, with millions either watching or listening, and
with the Israelis ready to pounce on each and every word he
uttered, Arafat was very careful not to step out of line -
especially after his now famous "Jihad Speech" in
Johannesburg.
Be that as it may, Arafat faces an almost impossible mission. Words
alone are not going to help much, and rhetoric can win the crowds
only for a few days - a month perhaps. The challenges are great and
so are the enemies, skeptics and critics.
The treaty he signed with Israel has not made matters any easier
for the great majority of Palestinians: the road blocks are still
there and Israeli army jeeps still roam the roads of the West Bank
and some of the main streets of Gaza. Instead of simplifying the
life of the population in Gaza and Jericho, the treaty has
complicated it even more, since now they have to go through both
Palestinian and Israeli officials to get permits for jobs and
travel abroad. More importantly, Israel still has control over all
exports and imports. Even to mail a letter, the people of Gaza and
Jericho still have to use an Israeli stamp; and to make a telephone
call, the only service available is provided by Bezek (the Israeli
telephone company).
Another problem Arafat faces is the widely popular support for
Hamas, Jihad and the rejectionist organizations that still operate
under the umbrella of the PLO, and their ability to make life very
difficult for him. So far they have chosen to watch from the
sidelines, but nobody can guarantee that this situation will last
for long, and that their men will sit on the fence while, what they
consider to be a treacherous agreement, is being implemented.
There is also the tension between the "insiders" and the
"outsiders": the young rebellious men who have led the Intifada
that forced Israel to negotiate with the PLO, and the "Tunis men"
who have led the revolution since 1967. It is no big secret that
the local leaders of the shabab feel left out and ignored by Arafat
and his top lieutenants. They fear that when the rest of the Tunis
bureaucrats arrive, the locals will be forced to take an early
retirement.
Heads of local clans are another dissatisfied lot. Some of them
consider themselves just as worthy of leadership as Arafat and his
newly sworn-in ministers. If one takes into account that a few of
them, like the Kawasmis in Hebron, head families that outnumber the
newly formed Palestinian police force, while others like the Masris
in Nablus and Shawas in Gaza have more money spread among their
members than the few million dollars the Palestinian Authority has
received so far, it would be very unwise of Arafat not to try to
win their support.
Israel withdrew from Gaza and Jericho, or for the sake of accuracy,
partially, because the occupation of Gaza had become, for the
majority of Israelis, a nightmare they wanted to end. They left
behind a poverty-¬stricken land with an infrastructure badly
in need of a complete overhaul where unemployment exceeds sixty
percent; where the water for drinking is polluted and for
irrigation is scarce; where open sewers can be found in almost
every neighborhood, not to mention the lakes of sewage in refugee
camps; and where thousands of houses are unfit for human occupancy
and land for building is scant.
The situation in Jericho is hardly any better. Tourism, which was
its main source of income, is suffering badly from an almost total
boycott by Israeli tourist companies. Agriculture is also suffering
since Israel is making it almost impossible for farmers to market
their produce either in the country, or to export them to other
countries.
Survivor
In fact, very little has changed since mid-May when the National
Authority took over. Arafat's supporters say the new state is still
in its infancy and that building a state from scratch takes a great
deal more than a few months. His critics, on the other hand, claim
that what we see now points to the fundamental difficulties to
come, and charge that Arafat intends to practise what they describe
as the dictatorial leadership style he has exercised since the
early days of the revolution. Both sides, however, agree that
whatever support there is for him and for the peace process will
erode unless progress is made very soon to improve the
economy.
Ordinary people feel relieved that the occupation and its army is
gone and are happy to see Palestinian policemen patrolling the
streets in place of the Israeli border-guards. But, the return of
Arafat to the autonomous areas marks only the beginning of what
promises to be a very long and arduous journey. Israeli withdrawal
from Gaza and Jericho might be a cause for celebration, but it
definitely is not a great accomplishment. The majority of Israelis
wanted a pullout and are happy to see Arafat and his men carry the
burden that their army had carried for many hard years. In fact,
some of the leading figures in the Likud opposition, such as former
defense minister Moshe Arens, had been advocating a withdrawal from
Gaza long before the famous handshake on the White House lawn.
Jericho was the carrot that Israel had to give up in order to
attract the cooperation of the PLO.
What Arafat and his team of negotiators face now is a completely
different game. Convincing the Israeli leadership and public of
giving up the rest of the Occupied Territories is no easy task. If
it took a year of negotiations to reach the Gaza-Jericho Agreement,
how long would it take to agree on the
future of the West Bank, where 120 thousand settlers live in 144
settlements? If forty percent of the very densely populated Gaza
Strip has remained under Israeli control to ensure the security of
five thousand settlers, how much land should Israel keep to satisfy
the security needs of the West Bank settlers? And then there is the
issue of Jerusalem. Would the Israelis, whether from the Right or
Left agree to Palestinian sovereignty over the eastern part, and if
not (which will definitely be the case), could they ever find a
Palestinian partner willing to affix his signature to a treaty
every Arab and Muslim would be loathe to accept, and would
certainly consider treacherous? The questions are many and the
answers are few, and even those who have committed themselves to
the peace process have their doubts.
The Oslo and Cairo Agreements were forced upon the majority of
Palestinians. Now they are faits accomplis and the clock cannot be
turned back. There is no choice but to make the best out of a bad
situation, and if Arafat is in a fix, Israelis and Palestinians
alike, are in it with him: if he fails, everybody will pay the
price.
From Amman of the sixties, to Beirut of the seventies, Tunisia of
the eighties and now Gaza, it has been a long journey home for
Arafat. He is known to be a natural survivor and a charismatic
leader, and whether a friend or an enemy, one has to admire his
courage and willpower. If Israel ever decides to put an end to the
bloodshed and misery of the two peoples that were forced to share
the same land, and to negotiate a lasting peace, it will have once
again to turn to him, for he is probably the only Palestinian who
can deliver.
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