Death of a symbol
Yasser Arafat leaves behind a complicated legacy of nationalism and terrorism
Few people can remain indifferent to Yasser Arafat. For many Palestinians, he has been their symbol of defiance, who raised the Palestinian cause to the international stage, and brought his people to the gates of Jerusalem. For President Bush and for the Israelis, Arafat's personna as a terrorist has been revived with the searing Palestinian-Israeli violence. In addition, Arafat has his share of militant Arab detractors who feel that his dalliance with diplomacy made him a traitor to the Arab cause in Palestine. Nevertheless, whether he is seen as a hero or as a villain, it is clear that despite half century of leadership in the Palestinian struggle for national independence, he failed in attaining the goal he set for himself, the establishment of a state in his own lifetime.
Arafat functioned best as a symbol and worst as a leader. In the years of struggle, he became a very successful rallying point for Palestinian aspirations. In times of crisis, Arafat was a survivor whose courage and steadfast calm raised him to iconic status. Under siege in Beirut in 1982 or under house arrest in Ramallah twenty years later, he remained calm and collected. He thrived under pressure; the world may have seen these events as defeats for the Palestinian people but Arafat made his persistent survival in the face of adversity the benchmark for success. In an interview with Lebanese television during the recent violence, Arafat could feel justified in declaring, "While leaving Beirut, I was asked where I was going. I said I was going to Palestine. Each Palestinian is Yasser Arafat, who is part and parcel of the Palestinian people, the great people, who will stand fast until doomsday."
As a leader though, whether in times of war or in times of peace, Arafat never had the capacity to translate his symbolic leadership into concrete achievements on the ground. His life was dominated by waging relentless struggle involving terror against Israel. In his sudden role as peacemaker, he ignited much hope among Israelis and Palestinians but ended up a failure as well. In 1993 when Palestinians and Israelis held dramatic, secret talks in Norway, culminating in a rub-your eyes historic, angst-ridden handshake with nemesis Yitzhak Rabin on the south lawn of the White House the agreement seemed to be a testament to the idea that history can give a reprieve, or in Arafat's case, several reprieves. On that sun-drenched day, there was hope that the long suffering Middle East might actually come to a fresh start.
Always vilified during his adult life as a terrorist, Arafat was sudden feted and welcomed to the Oval Office—making 12 such visits during the Clinton presidency. A year after the famed handshake, he was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a billing he shared with Rabin and Shimon Peres. Yet, events on the ground were not as transformative. While Palestinians made territorial gains in parts of the West Bank — fully or partially controlling 40% of the land including areas near Jerusalem, before so-called final status issues were to settle the core issues including the final disposition of the land, problems continued.
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