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11/11/2004 Archived Entry: "Arafat"

Arafat
It finally happened.
The moment of relief felt upon Arafat's passing quickly slips into apprehension.
Arafat was the worse thing to happen to the Palestinians. Few will admit it; few will break the taboo in Arab society of condemning a charismatic leader, of breaking the persistent cult of personality which drags Arab culture to the brink of death again and again. Few will come out and say what should have been said long ago. Arafat is the curse of the Palestinians.
He did everything himself to prevent the creation of a state; he chose a blind policy of war and terror which only created a simulacra of struggle. When negotiations were on the verge of a peace deal and a settlement which did require serious comprise from both sides and recognition that the facts on the ground have changed for both sides’ long standing ideological positions, Arafat went back to terror and erased every single success gained. The infrastructures the Israelis built for him: gone. The money the Israelis gave him to create security and society: gone. The joint security patrols to keep the peace internally: gone. The economic cooperation and planned development parks: gone. What was gained? He put his people into even more misery, making Gaza even more of a hell, denying his people access to jobs and futures, encouraging the murder of innocents - Israelis through suicide attacks, Palestinians through the expected and anticipated reprisals. And all the money? Stolen. Suha lives the queen life. The average Gazan has little to eat, no sewage, and maybe running water. Good job, Arafat.
And now the cult of personality will rise in his ashes. The world quickly forgets the wrong this man did. The Arabs he fought against will attend his funeral. King Abdullah going to Arafat's funeral? Yo, King. This guy tried to kill your father and take over Jordan. Remember that?
And now what? Will those within the Palestinian hierarchy have what it takes to finally move outside of Arafat's crippling sphere of influence and make a real peace? Or will they continue the death policies of suicide attacks and reprisals? Will they end the propaganda of hatred which has saturated their culture long before 1967 (and folks, the PLO is a pre-1967 creation)? Will they move out of a global vision of class - one which makes the U.S. class issues miniscule by comparison - by recognizing and living with the other (Said's failure to recognize Arab otherness of outside cultures and religion)?
Arafat is dead. He let his people suffer and die because he didn't have the courage to build a nation, recognize the Jews right to their homeland, and deal with the internal economic and religious conflict within Palestinian society. Instead, he chose to die a martyr. Look at me, confined to a compound by the big bad Jews, dead without a state, worship me, idolize me, memorialize me, even though I have kept your suffering going. And that is the real shame of his rule.