TIME EUROPE
July 17, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 3
Why Arafat's in a State
He wants a Palestinian nation, but fears that his people won't forgive him if he makes concessions
By LISA BEYER Jerusalem
After a lifetime of struggle, what Yasser Arafat, 70 and ailing, wants most in the world is to preside over an independent Palestinian state before his days run out. Logic would suggest, then, that he would be eager to sit down with his Israeli counterpart to hash out the details of an agreement enabling that longed-for entity to arise. But when President Clinton issued invitations for just such a summit to convene this week at Camp David, the response from Arafat's Gaza Strip office was a groan. He would go, his aides said, but only because he had to.
In his waning days, Arafat is more concerned about his place in history as a Palestinian hero than as father of a Palestinian state. To reach agreement with Israel on statehood would require profound compromises on what have long been almost sacred Palestinian demands. Arafat's great fear — his "obsession," says one aide — is that if he makes these concessions, he will go down as a traitor to the cause. "Arafat is terrified he'll be remembered as the one who gave away Palestinian rights," says a senior Palestinian official. This panic, perhaps more than anything, stands in the way of resolving the conflict.
Palestinian negotiators in recent months have held hard to maximalist positions that the Israelis reject out of hand. To end the conflict once and for all the Palestinians insist that Israel relinquish every centimeter of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including all of East Jerusalem — which would become the capital of Palestine — as well as areas colonized by 175,000 Jewish settlers, who would have to leave. Arafat's negotiators are also demanding the right of all Palestinian refugees from areas that are now within Israel to return to their homes, which Israel fears would eliminate its Jewish majority.
In back-channel talks Palestinian delegates have displayed some openness on these issues. They at least listened to counter proposals; for instance that Israel keep those parts of the West Bank, perhaps 5% to 10% of the area, where most settlers live. One negotiator, Mohamed Dahlan, Chief of Preventive Security in the Gaza Strip, said the Palestinians would consider letting Israel keep some of the settlements if they were compensated with an equal portion of land from within Israel proper, a proposition Israel publicly rejects.
Still, aides to Arafat say he is disinclined to swallow the concessions Israel would require for a final deal, including minimal Palestinian authority in East Jerusalem and the refugees' right of return. Arafat has disavowed an informal compromise drawn up in 1996 between his lieutenant Abu Mazen and Yossi Beilin, now Israel's Justice Minister. Privately, Arafat calls it the "Beilin-Abu Beilin" plan, insinuating that Abu Mazen, who no longer has a role in the peace process, was effectively an Israeli lackey.
In the absence of a good alternative, though, "Arafat is stuck," says one of his cabinet ministers. Adds another official, "His preference is to leave the outstanding issues for another generation to solve." Arafat is said to be haunted by the specter of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's 1981 assassination by Muslim zealots opposed to his peacemaking with Israel. And Egypt, at least, got back 100% of its territory Israel conquered in the 1967 War — an outcome the Israelis preclude for the Palestinians.
Arafat's fear of looking like a fool, or worse, in any final deal with Israel was accentuated by Israel's offer to Damascus, in since-aborted talks, to return 100% of the territory it seized from Syria in 1967. Then, in May, Israel withdrew from all of south Lebanon, ending an 18-year occupation. Accordingly, Arafat doesn't see why he should settle for less than total relinquishment of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Israelis, however, won't accede to the creation of an independent Palestine unless he does. In which case, Arafat has threatened to declare a state unilaterally before year's end. Last week, the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization endorsed that plan. Most countries would probably recognize Palestine, though the U.S. almost surely would not, and the E.U.'s position is unclear. Israel has promised a harsh reaction. Yossi Beilin, usually a dove, implied last week that Israel would sever connections between the West Bank and Gaza Strip and cut off Palestinian access to the outside world. Still, a unilateral declaration offers Arafat a bridge between his competing goals of statehood and steadfastness, or at least the appearance of being steadfast.
At Camp David, Clinton, desperate for a foreign policy triumph in the remaining days of his term, will urge Arafat away from that option. The Palestinian leader, however, won't be thinking of Clinton's legacy but of his own.
— With reporting by Jamil Hamad/Ramallah
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July 17, 2000
COVER
The Lure of Ecstasy
The elixir best known for powering raves is an 80-year-old illegal drug. But it's showing up outside clubs too, and advocates claim it even has therapeutic benefits. Just how dangerous is it?
Rave New World
It's more than just ecstasy. The youth culture is in thrall to deejays and floats on the relentless beat of electronic music
EUROPE
Putin's Hard 100
The honeymoon's over for Russia's new leader as he battles on military, political and economic fronts
Putin's Chechnya Nightmare
The War the Kremlin Said Was Won
The Haider Effect
Isolated and angry over diplomatic sanctions, Austria threatens to raise the stakes on E.U. enlargement
That's Another Fine Mess
An underage drinking spree sees Euan Blair arrested, and his dad nursing a political hangover
Sun, Sand and Toxic Waste
For the first time ever the European Court of Justice fines an E.U. member state
Europe's Not Up in Arms
A Euro Army is the declared goal, but there's more smoke than firepower
MIDDLE EAST
Why Arafat's in a State
He wants a Palestinian nation, but fears that his people won't forgive him if he makes concessions
The Modern Mullah
One of the architects of Khomeini's revolution has become a guru of Islamic reform in Iran
AFRICA
Fatal Destiny
Experts are meeting in South Africa to combat a plague ravaging the continent — but already there are disputes over the right strategy
Death Row
Kenyans would rather not talk about the disease that is destroying lives and threatening the economy
The Cost Of Living
Pharmaceutical Companies and Drugs
A Distant Mirror
Europe's Black Death is a history lesson in human tragedy — and economic renewal
BUSINESS
Keep the Change
Turkey's government takes on the structural problems at the heart of the country's economy
The Infoanarchist
Could this 23-year-old Irish programmer begin to unravel the Web?
The Data Haven
Closely Guarded Secrets
RELIGION
The Stained Glass Ceiling
Despite stubbornly held conservative attitudes, women are claiming their place in the pulpit
DEPARTMENTS
To Our Readers
Tech Watch
World Watch
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