by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright December 6, 2001
All Rights Reserved.

rafat's command of the Palestinian Authority remains intact, but his grip on the peace process is slipping away. When Arafat rejected the last U.S.-brokered peace deal at Camp David in August 2000, he changed directions, renewing violence as the path to statehood. Since Sept. 11, suicide bombing became unacceptable. Whether or not Arafat liked Barak's last offer certainly doesn't justify the carnage over the last 14 months. Early on, Arafat blamed the current uprising on Ariel Sharon visiting Temple Mount. His propaganda whipped Palestinians up into believing they were saving Al Aqsa mosque—and indeed Islam. Sharon's brief visit to Temple Mount had nothing to do with trashing Al Aqsa or Islam. Yet the Palestinian Authority hyped Sharon's visit to justify its new revolt. Turning loose radicals from Hamas and Islamic Jihad also didn't help matters. So, with the latest round of deadly suicide bombings, Arafat placed himself in hot water. Recent atrocities tilted the delicate propaganda fulcrum back to Israel, leaving Arafat isolated even among long-term supporters. At this point, condemning violence seems phony, doing little to reassure Israelis that Arafat's a real peace partner.

      Arafat's current dilemma boils down to this: If he supports terrorism, it makes him a terrorist in the administration's eyes. If he rejects terrorism, it signals that he no longer controls his own territory. Either way, Israel can no longer accept his authority, and must take security into its own hands. Israel and the U.S. now insist that Arafat arrest perpetrators and dismantle radical groups. Placing Hamas' spiritual leader quadriplegic Sheikh Ahmed Yassin under "house arrest" does little to reassure Israelis. "He [Arafat] is responsible, and because of his encouragement of the bloodletting of Israelis as part of a strategy of winning a state 'through blood and fire,'" said Yoel Marcus, a columnist for Har'aretz newspaper, squarely placing the blame on Arafat. For some time, Arafat warned Israel about undermining his authority—in essence, handing control to more radical factions like Hamas or Islamic Jihad. With the latest wave of suicide bombings, Israelis question whether they'd really be worse off without Arafat. Most Israelis no longer trust Arafat as a real peace partner and welcome new faces.

      Launching its latest retaliatory strikes, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came dangerously close to taking out Arafat. Firing a missile only 100 feet from his headquarters in Ramallah, West Bank, sent Arafat a loud message: One more mishap and your days are numbered. "This was not an accident," said Israeli Army spokesman Ron Kitri. "We know where he works and what he does." Hitting targets all over the Palestinian territories, it seems clear that Sharon regards the Palestinian Authority as inseparable from terrorists. "This is not a war against Hamas and terrorism. This is a war against the Palestinian Authority, a war to undermine President Arafat," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a key Arafat aid, expressing the party line that Arafat isn't tied to organized terrorism. Branding the Palestinian Authority a "terror-supporting entity," Sharon pledged to take on all terror groups "with all means at its disposal." Paying a price, Sharon already finds his shaky coalition unraveling, despite public support.

      With the U.S. winning its war in Afghanistan, the White House feels less inclined to restrain Israel's own war against terrorism. Before the latest suicide bombings, President Bush announced his support for a Palestinian state. But since the attacks, Bush gave Sharon the green light to do whatever's necessary to assure Israeli security. Even Secretary of State Colin A. Powell questioned whether Arafat's strongly worded condemnation was matched by real deeds. But perhaps most pointed were remarks of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who openly questioned Arafat's leadership. "After a major drive to arrest people, it is our security offices that are being targeted, not Hamas and Islamic Jihad," said Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian minister, blaming Israel for sabotaging Arafat's ability to rein in radical groups. Israel no longer distinguishes the Palestinian Authority from terrorist groups. Since 9/11, it's difficult to support any form of terrorism, even when it's attached to a noble cause.

      Dragging Hamas into its war on terrorism, the Treasure Department froze $1.9 million in assets of Al-Aqsa Islamic Banks and Beit-el Mal Holdings, an investment group, both tied to Hamas, the radical group responsible for the latest carnage. Also frozen were the holdings of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development based in Richardson, Texas, which raised $13 million dollars in donations, funding Hamas to "recruit suicide bombers and support their families." Controlling the purse strings, "Those who do business with terror will do no business in the United States—or anywhere else the United States can reach," said Bush during a Rose Garden ceremony, signaling, for the first time, that the White House is going after terrorists directly linked to the Palestinian cause. This is bad news for Arafat, who's rapidly falling into disrepute with U.S. authorities. Without decisive action to dismantle Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the administration may be looking ahead to new Palestinian leadership. Despite corruption, human rights abuses, and disaster of the latest intifada, Arafat shows no signs of stepping down.

      Too much bad blood beckons a call for new leadership, especially leaders that can't rise above past history and age-old hatreds. It's hard to change Arafat's or Sharon's stripes, after battling since 1948, when the British carved up the Holy Land and turned Palestine over to the Jews. Expecting—as Arafat does—"the right of return" for millions of displaced Palestinians is like handing New Mexico back to the Navajos. As long as insidious propaganda leads Palestinians to believe that Jews are responsible for their misery, and elders program children to become human hand grenades, progress will be slow moving. Since Sept. 11, Arafat and other radical groups must renounce civilian carnage as a means to statehood. Washington no longer accepts suicide bombing as a legitimate means to attain political objectives. Arafat is having more difficulty playing good-cop/bad-cop, convincing the West that he's still the best option for peace. Without joining America's fight against terrorism, Arafat won't be visiting the White House anytime soon.

About the Author

John M. Curtis is editor of OnlineColumnist.com and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He's director of a Los Angeles think tank specializing in political consulting and strategic public relations. He's the author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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