Arafat is no more
The death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has ended a glorious chapter in the unfinished struggle of his people for self-rule, that eludes them even after five decades. The eventful life of the man, who led the Palestinian movement for liberation as its uncompromising leader, ended in a Paris hospital on Thursday, leaving his followers, admirers and freedom-loving people across the world in a state of deep shock and grief. For the people of Palestine, it has been like losing the captain before the voyage across the turbulent sea is over.
The Palestinian leadership will have to shoulder the responsibility of completing his unfinished mission of liberating the country from the Israelis, who have denied the land and its people their legitimate rights since the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. Arafat had the fortitude, patriotism and charisma of a great leader which kept his people together in the face of brutal Israeli aggression. But they never lost faith in him.
The price that he was made to pay for his highly patriotic and uncompromising stand was great. There were attempts to demolish his leadership in a systematic way. Arafat was a prisoner at his own home for the last three years of his life. One of the biggest tragedies of our time is that international response to the Israeli atrocities never went beyond condemnation. And the United States, the main promoter of Israel, has consistently refused to denounce the activities of the Jewish state. Arafat was isolated from the rest of the world as part of the sinister design to lessen his power. The detractors of Arafat tried to blur his image in every possible way. But records show that the late leader played a pivotal role in all negotiations aimed to bring peace to the Middle East. That is the irony of his life.
Now the same people are voicing concern about the future of Palestine, being aware of the destabilizing effect his death might have on the region as a whole. Now it is up to the Palestinian leadership and people to find a worthy successor to Arafat without which their situation will only be compounded.
The Israelis, true to their disposition towards the Palestinian Titan Arafat, have decided not to allow his burial at Jerusalem after the funeral takes place in Cairo. Here was an opportunity for Ariel Sharon to send a positive message to the people of Palestine and the world at large, but he has missed it.
In death Arafat might wield a greater influence than he did in his life-time as the undisputed leader of his people. -- The Daily Star, Dhaka