PERSPECTIVE ON THE MIDDLE EAST : Arafat’s First Task: Write a Will

The spontaneous show of emotional support for Yasser Arafat among Palestinians of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip shows that the PLO leader remains the majority’s symbol of nationalist aspirations. His almost magical ability to survive repeated disasters and assassination attempts has come to represent, for Palestinians, the secret of their resilience.

Arafat has committed the Palestine Liberation Organization to the peace process, despite Israel’s humiliating restrictions. He has agreed to a behind-the-scenes role, letting the leadership under occupation speak on behalf of the Palestinian people. The slow pace of the negotiating process, coupled with Israel’s intensification of the harshness of the occupation, have led some Palestinian groups to criticize Arafat and the PLO mainstream for making unnecessary compromises.

This incident is likely to give the peace advocates a shot in the arm, at the same time proving that Arafat may have been a better reader of the pulse of his people than his critics, who seem to ignore an important fact: Arafat is the only PLO leader who has a strong base of support among the key constituency in the occupied territories. Without a base of support, his challengers simply cannot prevail. Arafat’s encounter with death also raises a fundamental question about the PLO and the course of Palestinian struggle.

As is the case in the Arab nations and much of the Third World, personalities and leaders are more important than institutions. Arafat must be aware that he has failed to build an institution that could function smoothly in his absence. He has arrogated to himself so many functions and titles that he controls nearly every bit of PLO business, down to the smallest details. Inevitably, charges of corruption, lack of accountability, missed opportunities and grievous mistakes will land on his doorstep.

Most of these problems are exacerbated by the fact that the exiled PLO leadership is far removed from its population base. To overcome the constraints of geography and dispersal, the PLO has had to be innovative in its use of modern technology. To Arafat’s credit, he has been a pioneer in the adaptation of the technologies of modern communication to the exigencies of his struggle. Yet, the forced distance has its political costs.

In the end, this incident vividly illustrates the indivisibility of the Palestinian people. Those who hope to capitalize on geography to encourage divisions between Palestinians on the inside and those on the outside are clearly mistaken.

Several years ago, I heard a Syrian intellectual heap scorn on Arafat at a conference of Arab-American intellectuals. An Israeli journalist sitting next to me leaned over and said: “Doesn’t he know that Arafat is the only Arab leader who can dare walk among his people?” This was true then and is still true now.