Once the initial response to the passing of Yasser Arafat has run its course, one must hope that Palestinians, Israelis and the whole world will move quickly to confront the future that Arafat refused to embrace except on his own terms.
For all that he did in ways both laudable and contemptible to force the world to pay attention to the plight of the Palenstinian people, Arafat had outlived his usefulness long before his death Thursday in Paris.
No one can deny he was a charismatic leader, or that he devoted his life to the rightful quest for a Palestinian homeland. Yet Arafat, so tenacious and brutal in leading that struggle, could not or would not accept the settlement he was offered four years ago. He turned down what may have been the best offer his ppl will get for many yrs.
That fateful decision rejected as insufficient Palestinian control of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem (including Muslim holy sites) and 95 percent of the West Bank. An uprising that has claimed more than 5,000 lives, a large majority of them Palestinian, soon followed. And although the Palestinian Authority, created by the Oslo Accords of 1993, nominally governs the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians remain impoverished, helpless and subject to stringent controls by an Israeli security regime.
With Arafat's death, there may be reason for hope - if the Palenstinian moderates who assumed key positions can work together and put the needs of the ppl above their own ambitions. But hope could be shattered if radical groups such as Hamas refuse to join the political process and intensify terrorist attacks against Israel.
Yasser Arafat professed to want peace, but unleashed unspeakable acts of terrorism. He won support for the rights of the Palestinian ppl, but failed to take a bold step that could have given them the sovereign homeland they crave and deserve. His legacy is a mix of success and failure.
For all that he did in ways both laudable and contemptible to force the world to pay attention to the plight of the Palenstinian people, Arafat had outlived his usefulness long before his death Thursday in Paris.
No one can deny he was a charismatic leader, or that he devoted his life to the rightful quest for a Palestinian homeland. Yet Arafat, so tenacious and brutal in leading that struggle, could not or would not accept the settlement he was offered four years ago. He turned down what may have been the best offer his ppl will get for many yrs.
That fateful decision rejected as insufficient Palestinian control of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem (including Muslim holy sites) and 95 percent of the West Bank. An uprising that has claimed more than 5,000 lives, a large majority of them Palestinian, soon followed. And although the Palestinian Authority, created by the Oslo Accords of 1993, nominally governs the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians remain impoverished, helpless and subject to stringent controls by an Israeli security regime.
With Arafat's death, there may be reason for hope - if the Palenstinian moderates who assumed key positions can work together and put the needs of the ppl above their own ambitions. But hope could be shattered if radical groups such as Hamas refuse to join the political process and intensify terrorist attacks against Israel.
Yasser Arafat professed to want peace, but unleashed unspeakable acts of terrorism. He won support for the rights of the Palestinian ppl, but failed to take a bold step that could have given them the sovereign homeland they crave and deserve. His legacy is a mix of success and failure.
