Sharon vs. Arafat, again

September 24, 2002

Last winter, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "irrelevant," and said that he would not deal with the Palestinian Authority until it had new leadership. Sharon, however, has an unusual way of ignoring his old enemy.

Like two ancient adversaries who can't seem to unpeel their fingers from around each other's necks, there they were again last weekend, after two suicide bombings broke a six-week lull in attacks. Taking up the familiar cycle of violence and response, Sharon ordered tanks and bulldozers to demolish what was left of Arafat's Ramallah headquarters. Arafat, under siege, defiantly vowed never to be forced out.

Sharon is said to be determined to exile Arafat to Gaza. But as Israeli leaders step up the pressure, there's a familiar boomerang effect at work: the more they squeeze Arafat, the more Palestinians rally around him, as they did when thousands took to the streets Saturday and Sunday in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank in a display of support. Arafat must love that. When he gets to play the role of victim, it distracts Palestinians from the rampant corruption, cronyism, and incompetence that have marked his government.

That's unfortunate, particularly if the Israeli response undercuts the nascent reform effort that appeared to be taking hold in the past few weeks.

For the first time, some of Arafat's own people seem to be disillusioned, and some moderates are speaking out for new leadership and against terror. One of Arafat's top former aides recently declared in the official Palestinian Authority newspaper that Arafat made a mistake when he turned down Israel's peace offer in 2000. Other Palestinian leaders have openly questioned Arafat's strategy of violence, acknowledging it has brought little but misery. Some have suggested relegating Arafat to figurehead status and installing a prime minister to lead.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad--terrorist groups that are not directly controlled by Arafat--claimed responsibility for the latest suicide bombings. At one point, Arafat could, and should, have been held responsible for such attacks. But his security forces have been gutted in the last few months. Nonetheless, Sharon seized the opportunity to pummel his old enemy in the name of defending Israel and fighting terrorism.

Suicide bombings are nothing but vile acts of terror, and Israel has the right to defend itself. The question is, how does it serve Israeli's purposes to go after Arafat, rather than the terrorists who have claimed responsibility for the latest attacks?

Sharon has hinted that those terrorist groups may be the next target. Beyond that, however, it's hard to tell what Sharon's endgame strategy is. Israel's defense minister was recently quoted as saying there are two schools of thought in the government about what to do now--crush the Palestinians completely, or take this opportunity to "hold out a hand and to walk side by side."

Last week, the secretary general of the 22-member Arab League, Amr Moussa, was asked at a Tribune editorial board meeting if Arafat was becoming irrelevant in Mideast politics. Moussa responded vehemently. Arafat is not irrelevant, he said. "Arafat is capable." His words, though, seemed to carry a note of wishful thinking. About the only thing Arafat seems capable of these days is providing an easy target for Israeli bulldozers.

Sharon would be wise to heed his own words and ignore Arafat. Better that than do what he did last weekend, turn the weary, tarnished Arafat into a symbol of Palestinian resistance.